Background: History of Hate Speech in Myanmar Figure 6. After the military clearance operations in Rakhine, Mg Mg Aye, a celebrity with hundreds of thousands of followers, wrote the following post on social media: “Go to Rakhine with speakers mounted on military tanks and blare the national anthem. Anyone who can’t sing along should be shot on the spot.” Complicating the picture even further has been the resilient culture of domestic support for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Her handling of the Rohingya crisis has led to criticism from local CSOs and the international community.165 The domestic and international reactions resemble the pattern seen with support of the military. While domestic discontent around issues of Burmanization and the stalled peace process lingers, especially in ethnic states, loyalty to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has re- mained strong with much of the general public in the predominantly Bamar regions.166 In the eyes of her supporters, she has been unjustly targeted by international actors and foreign powers.167 As explained by one interviewee, the cultural importance of heroism and the idea of “bloodline” leader- ship has given her tremendous power as the daughter of General Aung San, which helps explain why many supporters in Myanmar view attacks on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as both deeply personally and attacks on the nation itself.168 165 166 167 168 Anthony Ware, “Aung San Suu Kyi still has the moral authority to right Myanmar’s wrongs against the Rohingya,” Quartz, October 4, 2018, https://qz.com/1413080/aung-san-suu-kyi-still-has-the-moral-authority-to-right-myanmars-wrongs-against-the-rohingya/; Hannah Ellis-Peterson, “From peace icon to pariah: Aung San Suu Kyi’s fall from grace,” The Guardian, November 23, 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/23/aung-san-suu-kyifall-from-grace-myanmar; Timothy McLaughlin, “How Aung San Suu Kyi Lost Her Way, The Atlantic, September 28, 2018, https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/09/myanmar-aung-san-suu-kyi-rohingya-unitednations/571618/; “Critics circle Aung San Suu Kyi over Rohingya Crisis,” Al Jazeera, September 11, 2017, https:// www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/09/critics-circle-aung-san-suu-kyi-rohingya-crisis-170910090032580.html. Philip Heijmans, “Aung San Suu Kyi support strong despite denunciations,” Al Jazeera, September 11, 2017, https:// www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/09/aung-san-suu-kyi-support-strong-denunciations-170910183725884.html. Ibid. YGN-R1-01 33