5/22/22, 5:32 PM ‘Online mob’ assists silent strike crackdown | Frontier Myanmar The Han Nyein Oo channel posted pictures of gallows supposedly being prepared to execute pro-democracy activists (Frontier) Trouble with Telegram Han Nyein Oo has multiple Telegram channels, the largest of which has over 89,000 subscribers and is growing rapidly. Thazin Oo’s Telegram channel has over 32,000 subscribers; her main Facebook page has more than 100,000 followers, but she hasn’t posted there since July 2021. Facebook confirmed to Frontier that Han Nyein Oo has been banned from the platform and regularly tries to createnew accounts. Frontier flagged one such account, which was created on January 1, and Facebook took it down within 24 hours. Telegram, on the other hand, does not appear to have taken any action against his accounts, despite attempts to report them by activists, and did not reply to Frontier’s requests for comment. Unlike Facebook, Telegram has taken a hands-off approach to moderation since the coup, making little attempt to enforce its limited rules of use. As a result it has become popular with pro-military users, and been criticised for failing to control hate speech and disinformation. This appears to be largely in line with Telegram’s global practices. “Telegram has responded to some pressure from tech giants like Apple and Google to remove violent content in the past, but it has resisted most pressure to fight rampant misinformation and conspiracy theories,” the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism wrote in a report in October of last year. The German government has even said it is considering banning Telegram for failing to control hate speech, threats of violence and COVID-19 disinformation. “The coronavirus pandemic in particular has contributed to people becoming radicalized on Telegram, threatening others and even publishing calls to murder,” the chief of Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office, Mr Holger Muench, said in statement this month. Moe Thway says it is important to pressure Telegram to respect human rights and international law, and believes if faced with enough criticism, it will eventually respond. “For example, Facebook and Twitter have become more responsible and accountable after the recent Rohingya incidents,” he said, https://www.frontiermyanmar.net/en/online-mob-assists-silent-strike-crackdown/ 4/8