Previous 24 / 77 Next

pastoralists and farmers.44 It is therefore important to understand the actors and parties of the conflict and their influence, as I will examine next. Actors or Parties Levinger’s second step of his conflict assessment framework looks at the actors or parties of the conflict. He describes actors as ‘the cast of characters that drive the drama of conflict – each one with its own histories, motives, resources, and relationships with other members of the cast.’45 One of the most significant actors in the context of Myanmar is Aung San Suu Kyi and her political party the National League for Democracy. Suu Kyi is the daughter of General Aung San, one of the instigators of the Panglong agreement, and has spent more than fifteen years in detention after becoming engaged in the country’s nationwide democracy uprising. After the military introduced the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) to tighten restrictions on oppositional groups, Suu Kyi and others from the opposition founded the NLD. One significant feature of her campaign was the appeal she held for Myanmar’s various ethnic groups, which could arguably act as a connector.46 A young Muslim in an impoverished village (hit by the cyclone in 2008) told me that he strongly supported Suu Kyi, as she would help Muslims like him who had been neglected by the government, if the NLD were to win the election.47 As the most famous national figure in the fight for freedom and democracy, she has great influence over many people; it is therefore important that she has acknowledged the ethnic diversity and the rights of all citizens. One issue that has drawn criticism towards Suu Kyi is that she has remained silent over humanitarian crisis that has been described as ‘genocidal Buddhist racism against the Rohingya.’48 However, it has been argued by some that expressing support for the 44 Levinger, (2013) p.97. 45 Levinger, (2013) p.100. 46 Abrams, I., (1999) Peace 1991-1995, Political Science, p.10. 47 Personal Communication, Interview by Davis, B., (2015). 48 Zarni, (2012). - 24 -

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