Mobile Myanmar: The Impact of Social Media on Young People Living in Conflict-Affected Regions of Myanmar “I think some of the young people will approach the most educated ones to verify. The educated are considered as the ones who finished at least 10th Standard (High School).” Male, 46 years, Rohingya Muslim, Basara (Rakhine State IDP) “They normally check with the person who upload the news. They also ask the person from the ground level, for example if there is a news about the certain village, they will ask someone from that village directly to see whether it is fake or real.” Male, 46 years, Rohingya Muslim, Basara (Rakhine State IDP) “It also depends on how many media posted on the same information as well. For example, when they first hear of the recent death of one celebrity, they have observed several social media groups that are well known in Facebooks to see if they posted the same information or not.” Male, 19 years, Rakhine Buddhist, Sittwe (Rakhine State urban) “Many of the young people will ask each other, and if so, many people talk about the same information, they will believe it as a real news. Only some will cross check from another media news, source or page.” Male, 19 years, Rakhine Buddhist, Sittwe (Rakhine State urban) Many adults and young people thought that trust in news on social media was largely dependent on the source from which it came. International news agencies such as RFA (Radio Free Asia), BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) and VOA (Voice of America) were identified as examples of trustworthy sources. The quality of writing and inclusion of photos and/or video were also identified as factors that made a new story appear more trustworthy (though some participants were aware of the potential for ‘photoshopped’ images). “I trust the news websites or agencies that are broadcast [internationally] like RFA, BBC, VOA.” Male, 24 years, Rohingya Muslim, Basara (Rakhine State IDP) “The news is trustworthy if it has a video clip or image as evidence, and the big [international] news agencies like VOA and BBC are more trustworthy.” Male, 24 years, Kayah Christian, Daw Lyar Ku & Htee Seh Kaloe village (Kayah State rural) One young urban female from Rakhine mentioned ‘reverse image search’, which can be used to check whether an image has been altered or reused from a different new story or context (in this case it was mentioned in the context of checking the clothes worn by a Burmese model). “If the news is about clothes that Tin Zar Win Kyaw wear, we can use a software (Reverse Image Search) to verify whether her picture is real or not.” Female, 19 years, Chin Christian, Sittwe (Rakhine State urban) Most respondents thought that fake news can affect young people’s understanding of their political context, however some adults from rural Kayah thought that this was not a problem for the young people in their villages. The responses from young people in rural Kayah themselves however were evenly split between agreeing that fake news did affect their peers’ understanding of politics, and ‘I don’t know’. “We don’t have such problem here.” Female, 34 years, Kayan Christian, Lo Bar Kho village (Kayah State rural) 65