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interventions on countering hate speech have been effective, and what examples are there of proven successful interventions?21 Strachan acknowledges a number of difficulties that arise when researching hate speech and the effectiveness of counter hate speech. Firstly there is a lack of existing evidence on the effectiveness of strategies to counter hate speech due to the difficulties in monitoring such projects. Additionally, she notes the difficulties in identifying hate speech. Subtle forms of hate speech may be harder to identity and thus go unnoticed while causing potential damage. The report identifies two main characteristics of hate speech which I will reference throughout: 1. Dehumanisation. This can be subtle and can, as Strachan notes, deny a group the ‘characteristics of human uniqueness such as civility, moral sensibility, rationality and maturity.’22 This is similar to Waldron’s notion of the damage to dignity, and is important as it considers the long lasting impact of hate speech and the effects that may not be as visible as physical violence. 2. Simplistic and unbalanced communication. This accounts for the violation of standards of argumentative integrity. Those who write or speak hate speech often present subjective arguments as objective truth and distort the truth to depict that group as the ones to blame for certain political or social problems. This report is a useful and practical addition to this study as it focuses on finding evidence for successful strategies that have countered hate speech. Strachan identifies a number of primary factors that make effectiveness of interventions to counter hate speech more likely. She concludes that the majority of the interventions included in this report have been locally-led. Additionally, she notes that a comprehensive understanding of the conflict is essential before interventions to counter hate speech can be effective; a point has influenced this study’s conflict analysis. It is an important step that many anti hate speech campaigns such as No 21 Strachan, A., (2014) ‘Interventions to Counter Hate Speech’ (GSDRC Helpdesk Research Report 1116), GSDRC, University of Birmingham, p.1. 22 Strachan, (2014) p.2. - 16 -

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

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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.

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

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