Mobile Myanmar: The Impact of Social Media on Young People Living in Conflict-Affected Regions of Myanmar “[When] sharing fake news, we need to think about our own actions before we do it. Since we are human and have feelings, it can affect others by one’s action.” Female, 20 years, Loikaw (Kayah State urban) A rural participant commented that the constant sharing of fake news by users should have consequences (which may not be the responsibility of Facebook). A few rural participants reported that they don’t interact with fake news, so they don’t have particular feelings about those who share it. Others thought that it depends on whether they know the user who is sharing the fake news. Most participants believed that people from other countries have negative misconceptions about Myanmar. “Some use the wrong information and post them in English – that [causes] international communities to have misunderstandings about Myanmar.” Female, 18 years, Kayan Buddhist, Loikaw (Kayah State urban) “Most people from other countries do not know what is happening in Myanmar, they just see the news online or from the fabricated media. They do not know whether it is the real news or not.” Female, 18 years, Kayan Buddhist, Loikaw (Kayah State urban) Urban participants believe that fake news also affects their peers’ understanding of conflicts in their community and in Myanmar more broadly, using such methods as photoshopping images or posting old news “Look at the Rakhine issue, they use old pics from other countries and photoshop it to confuse the readers, that kind of news is igniting the issues.” 17-19 years, Loikaw (Kayah State urban) “Yes, there are impacts on the country. Some fake news is using the old posts to distract the peace.” Female, 18 years, Kayan Buddhist, Loikaw (Kayah State urban) Some said that fake news had influenced how they viewed Muslims in the past but that these perceptions changed after realising that the news was fake, or after meeting with Muslim people in person. “When I first looked at a video that showed Muslims destroying a Buddhist temple and killing Buddhists, even though they are fake, it would make me sad and angry. We thought why do our people have to suffer like this. But when I realised [it was fake], I felt better” Male, 22 years, Kayan Buddhist, Loikaw (Kayah State urban) “Before I was scared of Muslims. I participated in a project that brought us to a Muslim school and their teacher explained about their Islam religion. I found out that there are many similarities [between] our religions, like they also use the old testament. The teacher said Islam is not a terrorist religion. I think they are a very religious society.” Male, 18 years, Kayan Christian, Loikaw (Kayah State urban) Facilitators from the rural locations noted that there was limited discussion about how fake news influenced their perceptions, and that the boys were found to be most vocal when discussing fake news in general. When examples of real and fake news that included hate speech were presented to rural participants to differentiate, they got emotional, 40