Mobile Myanmar: The Impact of Social Media on Young People Living in Conflict-Affected Regions of Myanmar “When they see fake news, they mostly post comments that are offensive [or curse words].” Female, 22 years, Kayah Christian, Daw Lyar Ku & Htee Teh Kaloe Village (Kayah State rural) “Click angry icon and give comment that this is fake.” Male, 18 years, Rohingya Muslim, Basara (Rakhine State IDP) “If they are educated, they would analyse and even explain in the comments what is the real news and why in detail, not only for the person who posted online but as well as others who use it.” Male, 29 years, Rohingya Muslim, Basara (Rakhine State IDP) Estimates of the proportion of young people who can differentiate between real and fake news varied greatly (from 1% to 75%), however there were no patterns in the responses observed across demographic groups. The majority thought that less than half of young people could differentiate between real and fake news, with many stating that educated and urban young people were more likely to have the skills and knowledge to do so. “Young people who have little knowledge can’t differentiate between fake news and real news. Only those who are educated can.” Female, 52 years, Rohingya Muslim, Basara (Rakhine State IDP) “We have many young people who come from remote areas who are uneducated, I think only about 30% from urban areas can differentiate.” Male, 20 years, Rakhine Buddhist, Sittwe (Rakhine State urban) “They can differentiate news that happened in local but not the international news. They can’t differentiate the news release from the Army. They release many fake news.” Male, 55 years, Chin Christian, Sittwe (Rakhine State urban) “Most young people from villages are not interested in news and don’t widely use social media. They just read the news but think this is not relevant to them. Urban young people feel more connected with social media.” Female, 35 years, Kayaw Christian, Loikaw (Kayah State urban) “Urban young people don’t easily trust what they see because they know a lot of information, while young people from villages have limited access to news information.” Female, 27 years, Rakhine Buddhist, Sittwe (Rakhine State urban) Most interviewees thought that most young people do not understand the concepts of bias or propaganda. Again, some qualified their response by saying that those who are educated or who read the news regularly were more aware of bias in news found on social media. There were some interviewees (both adults and young people) who didn’t understand the question about the concept of bias or propaganda themselves, particularly those from Kayah as there is no direct translation for the word ‘propaganda’ into the Kayah and Kayan languages. It is possible that they do understand that news reported on social media is biased, but just don’t have the vocabulary to discuss it eloquently (responses to other questions about fake news support this). When asked what strategies young people use to verify the accuracy of the news they read on social media, the most common responses were to discuss the story with their peers (particularly those who are educated), check with people they know ‘on the ground’ (i.e., in the area affected), or seek out a second news source. Checking with peers was regarded by some as not being very effective, as many base their judgement of the truth of a story on how well known it is, rather than whether it had been verified. Other responses included checking the comments below a news post to see whether others had identified it as fake news or investigating the credibility of the source posting the news. 64