9/24/21, 8:03 PM Hard talk or hate speech? Outlet spreads disinformation and bigotry under guise of political commentary | Frontier Myanmar MHT using his image to promote the page, claiming he was too “busy” with election campaigning. He also denied contributing any funds to MHT. Asked if he believes MHT was spreading disinformation, he said, “I don’t want to talk to you anymore.” During his appearances, Maung Myint and Aung Min often attacked the NLD while defending the USDP and military. Most of Maung Myint’s comments can’t be described as outright disinformation, but rather slanted opinions that don’t hold up to much scrutiny. For example, in one recent video, Maung Myint said the international community forgave Myanmar’s debt under the USDP, but then made the NLD repay it, claiming this is proof that the USDP has more support in the international community. The statement is factually incorrect in several ways: while the international community forgave some debt under the USDP, it also issued new loans to Thein Sein’s government that Myanmar will have to repay. Most political analysts would likely disagree that the international community supports the USDP more than the NLD, but this could be chalked up to a matter of opinion. While Maung Myint appeared to be careful to toe the line in his interviews with MHT, on the campaign trail he has been known to peddle Islamophobia and disinformation. During a speech recorded and published to Facebook on October 11, he claimed the NLD has selected 42 Muslim candidates to run in the November election, and said that as a result people shouldn’t vote for the party. However, only two NLD candidates have been confirmed to be Muslim. Maung Myint referenced one of them by name, U Sithu Maung, calling him a “Muslim kalar”, a term widely considered to be derogatory. In a Facebook post in July, Maung Myint also shared unverified images and texts apparently insulting Buddhism, using them to argue that the NLD government had failed to protect Buddhism and urging people to vote for the USDP. The images included a photoshopped foot covering Buddha’s face and a caption riddled with insults against Buddhism. In another video that MHT posted, hardline nationalist U Win Maw criticised the NLD for “suppressing our religion and monks”. “Therefore, we keep questioning, what does the government want and who is behind them? And who are they making deals with outside the country to cancel the religion of our country?” he asked. Again, this seems to be a reference to a fictional global movement to destroy Buddhism in Myanmar – a discredited conspiracy theory used to justify the crackdown on Rohingya Muslims. In fact, the overwhelming majority of those in power in Myanmar remain Buddhists. When asked if it was appropriate for a USDP MP and candidate to appear on a Facebook page like MHT, party spokesperson Daw Nan Mya Mya Mie Mie Zaw defended MHT and Maung Myint. “It is up to the individual to decide whether MHT is unethical,” she said, and dismissed accusations of disinformation as simply a difference of opinion. She said there are “some official media pages that have a blue checkmark on Facebook that continue to campaign for a party”, but refused to name the pages or the party she was referring to. She also did not disclose if those pages had shared disinformation. But Nan Mya Mya Mie Mie Zaw appears to have her own history of posting religiously inflammatory content on Facebook. In September, she wrote that “Buddhism has been insulted under the government of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate,” a reference to Aung San Suu Kyi. She also said “one of the world’s largest religions is insulting our country and sovereignty”, a likely reference to Islam. Members of the Myanmar Press Council took a different view. U Zayar Hlaing, secretary of the MPC’s media ethics committee, said MHT is “unethical”. “It must be declared that it incites hatred. This is very simple,” he said. U Myint Kyaw, another MPC member, said MHT will be formally designated as an outlet spreading disinformation in the near future. https://www.frontiermyanmar.net/en/hard-talk-or-hate-speech-outlet-spread-disinformation-and-bigotry-under-guise-of-political-commentary/ 5/9