Previous 13 / 77 Next

Gopin is one of the leading researches in the field of religious peacebuilding. One of the most useful aspects of Religion, Violence and Conflict Resolution is that he recognises the importance of religion in conflict and peacebuilding.13 He argues that we must critically examine the decision making of religious actors and leaders, such as Wirathu or Aung San Suu Kyi, in order for strategies of peacebuilding to be successful in specific contexts. This will be a useful contribution as my study is formed on the belief that an understanding of Myanmar’s conflict is an essential process in initiating counter narratives against hate speech. Buddhist/Muslim Relations: Horstmann’s Ethnohistorical Perspectives on Buddhist-Muslim Relations and Coexistence in Southern Thailand: From Shared Cosmos to the Emergence of Hatred? evaluates how hate speech affects Buddhist/Muslim relations in Thailand. It will be useful therefore, to be able to analyse this context against a similar context: Myanmar. Myanmar’s attitude towards Muslims which sees them as outcasts in society is similar to the situation in Thailand; Thai Buddhists are known to refer to Muslims as khaek, which is synonymous with the term ‘visitor’.14 The Consequences of Hate Speech: Hate speech has been discussed by Waldron (2012) and Foxman and Wolf (2013), and they bring two equally important perspectives on hate speech: Waldron focuses on the psychological harm caused by hate speech, Foxman and Wolf focus on the threat of violence that the incitement of hatred influences, stating that: ‘hate doesn’t just hurt, it kills.’15 To demonstrate this point, the latter use examples such as the shooting 13 Gopin, M., (2002) ‘Religion, Violence and Conflict Resolution’, Peace and Change, vol.22, no. 1. 14 Horstmann, A., (2004) ‘Ethnohistorical Perspectives on Buddhist-Muslim Relations and Coexistence in Southern Thailand: From Shared Cosmos to the Emergence of Hatred?’, Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia, Vol. 19, No.1, p.83. 15 Foxman, A. and Wolf, C., (2013) Viral Hate: Containing Its Spread on the Internet, Palgrave Macmillan, p.28. - 13 -

Select target paragraph3

● ● ●

Religion, hate speech and social media in Myanmar: Analysing methods of intervention

Academic Publication

Preview

Language

English

Topic

Hate Speech
Rohingya Crisis

Author(s)

Bethany Davis

Date Published: Dec 1, 2015

Abstract: Myanmar is home to one of the longest running intrastate conflicts in the world, involving a series of ethnic and religious clashes that have caused harm to all parties involved. The ideology of a homogeneity based on Buddhism and the Bamar ethnicity has marginalized minority groups, which make up a third of the population, and has particularly affected the Rakhine state’s Buddhist and Muslim communities, the latter of which are subject to what international human rights organizations are calling an ethnic cleansing. Since the government relaxed restrictions to the access of foreign websites, the social media site Facebook has become a popular means to disseminate misinformation and rumours, and this has created mistrust and hatred against Muslims across the country, heightening the polarization between Buddhist and Muslim groups. This study will combine conflict analysis with the assessment of different approaches of countering hate speech to propose which methods of intervention are most suitable for this situation in Myanmar. Lederach argues that to counter hatred and avoid reoccurrence of violence, deep alterations of the parties’ relationships is needed. This idea forms the basis for chapter three which examines educational methods, interfaith projects and social media campaigns to both prevent and change negative attitudes towards the religious ‘Other’. It argues that education and awareness campaigns are more effective than the implementation of legal regulation as we need to combat the underlying issue. In addition to secondary sources, this study involved field research to collect information about how the youth are influence by hate speech and counter hate campaigns in Myanmar.

Link: Source

Primary Documents

2015-12-00-Religion-hate-speech-and-social-media-in-Myanmar-en-red.pdf
English
Download View

Myanmar Internet Project

Select target paragraph3

Religion, hate speech and social media in Myanmar: Analysing methods of intervention

Primary Documents

Notifications