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blogs.132 The intention of Umati is to qualitatively analyse the data it collects so it can contribute to research in the areas of technology, human monitoring, education on ethnic and religious diversity, and the influence of religion on speech.133 By identifying and understanding the use of hate speech online in Kenya, attempts to find nongovernment ways to reduce its effects of violence on the ground can be made. Therefore, similar initiatives would be useful to implement in Myanmar to gain a deeper understanding of hate speech. Counter Narratives Firstly, I want to address why proactive counter narratives are so important. One of the problems with the visibility of hate speech online is that the targeted group may believe the opinion is more accepted in society than it actually is. In addition to prevention and regulation, is important to visibly support and show solidarity with that group, and to address the presence of hatred but show it is not a shared belief. This is a point expressed by Vollhardt; he argues that when rejection of the hate speech is expressed by people who belong to the same social group as those who are behind it, it is less likely that the entire group will be perceived as antagonistic. It can therefore reduce the potential for cycles of violence.134 Social media platforms often receive a great amount of criticism and blame for shaping the thoughts and ideas of the youth. However, Twitter and Facebook have both shown the power to draw world-wide attention to campaigns or ideas through their ‘trends’ or ‘hashtags’. The hashtag ‘NotInMyName’ is an online campaign to counter islamophobia after the growing threat of extremist groups such as ISIS and alQaeda. The campaign, started last September by Active Change Foundation in London, was launched to show British Muslims challenging ISIS and to show the world that 132 (2012-2014)‘Umati: Monitoring Online Dangerous Speech: October 2012 - January 2013’, iHub Research, available at: http://www.ihub.co.ke/uploads/default/files/umati/Umati_Report_OctJan_2013.pdf [November 2015], p.24. 133 (2012-2014)‘Umati: Monitoring Online Dangerous Speech: October 2012 - January 2013’, p.10. 134 Vollhardt, Coutin, Staub, Weiss and Deflander, (2006) p.31. - 56 -

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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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