Mobile Myanmar: The Impact of Social Media on Young People Living in Conflict-Affected Regions of Myanmar ex-partners, who often used similar techniques to defame or seek revenge on young women for having ended their relationship. As well as these explicit dangers, girls are also subject to an online culture of disrespecting women that appears to reflect offline cultural norms of casual sexism, with many boys and young men not realising that this constitutes harassment. Reported impacts of online sexual harassment and image-based abuse ranged from shame and public humiliation to attempted suicide. It is clear that there is not only a need to provide information and support to girls regarding how to respond to and protect themselves from such threats, but to educate wider society, particularly boys and young men, about the impact, unacceptability and illegality of online sexual harassment. Recommendations  NGOs to partner with actors tackling Gender-Based Violence (GBV) to promote awareness of the prevalence and impact of online sexual harassment in Myanmar.  Government to introduce laws to govern technology-facilitated GBV and the creation of a regulatory body with the power to compel social media platforms to address instances of image-based abuse in a timely fashion.  NGOs to develop an online video campaign aimed at young men to communicate the impact of online sexual harassment on young women and promote on social media.  NGOs to develop an online video campaign aimed at young women on how to respond to online sexual harassment and promote on social media. Issue 3: Online hate speech has real world impact and is a barrier to social cohesion The psychological and sociological impact of hate speech is felt by multiple ethnic groups in Myanmar, but the most common targets of hate speech in the current study were Rohingya Muslims, who frequently encountered posts on social media inciting hatred and violence against them. This is obviously concerning given the reported link between hate speech on social media and violence against Muslim communities (McKirdy, 2018), but also the psychological impacts on Rohingya young people reported for the first time in the current study (including depression, feelings of hopelessness, and suicide ideation). This is not to mention the impacts that being marginalised and confined to IDP camps has on their freedom of movement and ability to take part in Myanmar society. While there are anti-hate speech campaigns already in place across Myanmar, very few respondents in the current study were aware of them. A number of young people instead spoke of having their negative perceptions of other cultures and ethnicities changed through exposure to and positive interactions with people from other cultures on social media. There was consensus that social media has great potential to increase empathy and understanding between different groups in Myanmar society and foster peace and tolerance. Recommendations  NGOS to develop an online video campaign to humanise the victims of hate speech (particularly internally displaced Muslim young people) and communicate the real-world impact that hate speech has on the lives of victims, including psychologically, and on Myanmar society (i.e., conflict and violence). Stories from young people who have been deradicalized in their views of minority groups could also be very impactful.  NGOs to recruit celebrities and key influencers to promote peace, tolerance and diversity through positive messaging and encouraging connections between people from different cultures. Young people in Myanmar are heavy consumers of popular culture and music (particularly online) so there are opportunities to use celebrities and the medium of song and other creative avenues to raise awareness and get these messages across.  NGOs to consult with young people from a range of cultures, as this will be key to ensuring that anti-hate speech and harassment messages connect with the target audience.  CSOs to use social media to connect existing youth networks across Myanmar to promote dialogue, peace and understanding between different cultural groups. 104

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