Mobile Myanmar: The Impact of Social Media on Young People Living in Conflict-Affected Regions of Myanmar
Key issues and recommendations
This study has collected a vast amount of data and insights regarding the experience and impact of social media among
Myanmar young people. From the analysis conducted, the most urgent areas of concern that need to be addressed can
be distilled into the following four key issues, for which possible solutions and recommendations are proposed below.
These are based on the insights gained from the experiences described by participants in the study, current
international evidence-based practice, and the expertise and experience of the research team and Save the Children
staff on the ground in Myanmar.
Issue 1: Myanmar’s young people lack digital citizenship skills
Most young people in Myanmar do not have the digital safety skills and knowledge to adequately protect themselves
from online threats such as scams, hacking and harassment. While some are aware of blocking and reporting functions,
most do not know how to use them, nor are they aware of how to change the privacy settings on their social media
accounts. Media literacy skills are also lacking among young people in Myanmar. While trust in news found on social
media is generally low among young people, most do not know how to properly check the validity of news. Given the
rapid uptake of social media in Myanmar, the prevalence of fake news and online dangers, and general lack of guidance
from parents and teachers, there is a desperate need and great enthusiasm for a digital citizenship curriculum tailored
to Myanmar youth.
Digital citizenship is a broader concept than just online safety and media literacy, and issues that should also be covered
in a curriculum aimed at young people include online etiquette and communication, cyberbullying and harassment,
online commerce, online rights and responsibilities, and awareness of one’s digital footprint. A focus on digital nutrition,
which refers to maintaining balance and wellness in the digital age (Brewer, 2019), would also address the reported
tendency for young people in Myanmar to use social media for long periods of time at the expense of their offline
relationships.
Recommendations
Save the Children to advocate with other education actors in Myanmar to the Ministry of Education for a digital
citizenship curriculum to be developed and introduced in all schools, with a key focus on staying safe online
(including how to use privacy and security settings), and critical evaluation of online content (including how to
identify and respond to fake news). Due to sensitivities within Myanmar around the term ‘citizenship’, it may be
worth considering alternative terminology to make curriculum more palatable.
Non-government organisations (NGOs) to recruit celebrities and key influencers to promote digital safety and
media literacy through multiple avenues, including sharable social media posts and videos.
NGOs to support ongoing efforts by Facebook to: a) ensure that all Facebook tools are available in Burmese and
other local Myanmar languages; b) increase the number of Burmese and Myanmar local language content
moderators working for Facebook; c) improve effectiveness in responding to fake news and hate speech reports
(and flagging via ‘haha’ emojis), by both removing offending posts and preventing their re-posting.
Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to develop urban and village workshops to teach media literacy and digital
citizenship skills to parents and teachers, and teach them about appropriate community standards for social media
use.
Issue 2: Online sexual harassment is highly prevalent and harming young people in Myanmar
The most alarming theme to arise from the current study was the prevalence of online sexual harassment of girls on
social media. Girls were vulnerable to harassment not only from online predators who contact them with unsolicited
messages, often containing inappropriate sexual content, or requests for sexual images, money, or declarations of
reciprocal love (usually by threatening to misuse or photoshop their images and post on social media), but also from
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