Mobile Myanmar: The Impact of Social Media on Young People Living in Conflict-Affected Regions of Myanmar “Because they look at their phone and play games for too long, it can harm their eye and can also cause eye cancer.” Female, 22 years, Kayah Christian, Daw Lyar Ku & Htee Seh Kaloe villages (Kayah State rural) While not always related to social media use directly, pornographic and sexualised online content was identified as having negative impacts on the well-being of young boys and girls. In addition to the online sexual harassment discussed earlier, sexual content was suggested to be responsible for the ways some young boys related to them in offline relationships. “Some people watch dirty pictures or videos and imitate [in their relationships].” Male, 24 years, Kayah Christian, Daw Lyar Ku & Htee Seh Kaloe villages (Kayah State rural) “Adolescents between 15-16 are in the age that they want to experience things. Boys can watch porn from online and can be a problem when they have sexual desires.” Male, 20 years, Kayan Christian, Loikaw (Kayah State urban) Sexualised content also impacted on the psychological well-being of young girls, for example the shame and ‘loss of dignity’ experienced as a result of sexually suggestive images or videos being shared on social media (either by themselves or others). “An example of a negative impact is the two girls who posted their Korean song cover dance in sexy dress. Most people would give negative comments, and this could degrade their parents’ dignity. Their parents scolded them. So we asked them to delete their post.” Female, 35 years, Kayaw Christian, Loikaw (Kayah State urban) “I think there is emotional impact and also it shapes their belief and understanding…The worst is the ‘18+ issue [pornography]’ but this content is less on Facebook. Privacy also has an impact on their psychological well-being, like the case of the model [whose sex tape was leaked on social media].” Male, 34 years, Kayan Christian, Loikaw (Kayah State urban) There was also an example of a young male celebrity whose mental health was impacted by the leaking of a ‘sex tape’. “I read a news [story] about a celebrity who attempted to commit suicide after his account was hacked and his sex tape was leaked. Because of negative and offensive comments that people posted, it can make someone traumatised and hurt his feelings.” Female, 36 years, Kayan Christian, Loikaw (Kayah State urban) When asked whether social media affects young people’s relationships with others, the most common response across all demographics was that social media was to blame for young people spending less face-to-face time with their families (and is many cases also their friends). “Not so much impact on the relationship with friends. But many effects on the relationship with family members, because they spend too much time on their phone, rather than not having a relationship with their family members.” Male, 20 years, Rakhine Buddhist, Sittwe (Rakhine State urban) 77