72 Hate Speech Ignited: Understanding Hate Speech in Myanmar At the same time, one activist noted that some leaders from different religious backgrounds also have spread intolerance: “Some of the religious leaders, the Imams, their teachings are dangerous. Because of their teachings there are misunderstandings in Muslim society and non-Muslim society. . . . This is a big challenge because Muslims in Myanmar have to accept diversity. If they do not accept diversity, they have no chance for social cohesion.”451 The distrust is so deep that many said that Muslims have moved to areas where they will not feel that they are minorities, and that Burmese have also been moving out of predominantly Muslim communities, with the two communities no longer frequenting each other’s businesses.452 “It’s not easy for non-Buddhist people to have a business or live in that kind of community influenced by such extreme patriotism, because they have restricted local people not to support non-Buddhist shops,” one interviewee explained.453 The same interviewee also admitted a change in her own behavior in response to the hate speech she had witnessed: “I became conscious about hanging out with my male friends, especially Muslim male friends. I don’t dare to go out with them.”454 Local CSOs worry that further segregation of communities will only further perpetuate misunderstandings and hatred.455 Interviewees from minority communities reported feeling further marginalized than before. For example, Christian communities in Sagaing and Yangon Divisions said during the December convening that public Christmas festivities were prohibited in 2019.456 Multiple interviewees also highlighted difficulties obtaining approval to renovate and build new places of worship for non-Buddhist religions.457 Furthermore, interviewees noted that religious minority vendors have been consistently denied permits to operate their businesses during Buddhist festivals.458 CSOs stated that places like Shwedagon Pagoda and other sacred sites have ousted businesses of religious minorities after 969 and Ma Ba Tha’s aggressive campaigns, physical threats, and intimidation.459 In its totality, the cumulative effects of the hate speech paint a picture of both the pervasive reach of the harms and the extent and depth of those harms on the fabric of not only ethnic minority communities but the society as a whole. Closing Civil Society Space – Increasing Difficulties in Combatting Hate Speech In order to combat hate speech and counter its cultural underpinnings, there needs to be both a robust space for freedom of expression and an enforcement of those protections. Instead, Myanmar has experienced the opposite – increasing restrictions on expression and the selective enforcement of laws against those who oppose the positions and policies of those in power. The result has been a weaponization of the law as a tool to oppress rather the law being used to protect rights. The overall 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 001-R1-01, 5. FGD (January 2019). 002-R4-04, 2. Ibid. FGD (January 2019). FGD (December 2019). Ibid.; See, e.g., YGN-R3-03, 1-4. Ibid., 1. Ibid., 2-3.