Mobile Myanmar: The Impact of Social Media on Young People Living in Conflict-Affected Regions of Myanmar “Do not use phone too much because it is not good. Your eyes will hurt, it will affect your work.” Female, 20 years, Kayan Christian, Kyun Taw Village (Kayah State rural) “Most parents who are 40+ don’t have much knowledge about online. They limit their children not to use phone and online for too long as it can affect their study and their health, but they don’t teach them about online safety and what they should read or watch on Facebook. Only 5% of parents in this camp who have high education might teach their children about online safety.” Male, 29 years, Rohingya Muslim, Basara (Rakhine State IDP) Some young people (both male and female) identified a gender difference in restrictions placed on them by parents, with a focus on the vulnerability of young girls online. “Yes, some parents don’t allow their children to use their phone. Mostly girls are restricted as they are seen as vulnerable. Boys are not restricted as they are tougher.” Male, 24 years, Kayah Christian, Kyun Taw Village (Kayah State rural) “One thing is [some] Muslim women are not allowed to use phones.” Female, 22 years, Rohingya Muslim, Basara (Rakhine State IDP) Parents and teachers who did teach young people about online dangers tended to focus on the kinds of posts and activities that could compromise their offline safety (e.g., commenting on political stories, posting personal pictures or details about their offline activities). “Yes, both parents and teachers are okay with young people using social media – they will remind them to be careful on online, especially regards with political news and posts not to offend anyone… They are mainly worried that young people will use social media to express their opinion about the government.” Male, 29 years, Rohingya Muslim, Basara (Rakhine State IDP) “Some parents warn their daughters not to post many pictures on Facebook because there are many men out there and if something happens, it will harm girls’ dignity.” Female, 18 years, Kaman Muslim, Basara (Rakhine State IDP) “Our teachers told us we shouldn’t share our location or pictures of where we are going on social media because people who dislike us can use this information to put us in danger.” Female, 22 years, Rakhine Buddhist, Sittwe (Rakhine State urban) Fake news and propaganda Perceptions of the kinds of online news and information that young people are most interested in varied greatly between interviewees. The most common responses from female participants (both adult and young people) related to local and national news events, while the most common responses from male participants were sport and entertainment. The next most common topics across members of all demographic groups were politics and education (particularly around learning English). There were some respondents from all groups who believed that young people were not really interested in news and current affairs and preferred to follow the activities of their friends or celebrities. “Mainly about the current political issues and update information of Rakhine State or conflicts.” Female, 36 years, Rohingya Muslim, Basara (Rakhine State IDP) 61