Mobile Myanmar: The Impact of Social Media on Young People Living in Conflict-Affected Regions of Myanmar “It depends on the young people and their gender. The majority of young males are interested in sports like football and mixed martial arts. For girls, many of them are interested in watching movies. Some are interested in the current news as well.” Male, 46 years, Rohingya Muslim, Basara (Rakhine State IDP) “I am not sure what kinds of content they share but I think most young people use social media for finding entertainment and fun.” Female, 36 years, Kayan Christian, Loikaw (Kayah State urban) “They share posts like English learning as they believe it can help them progress in their life.” Male, 55 years, Chin Christian, Sittwe (Rakhine State urban) “The young people are more interested in each other's personal relationships information rather than other news.” Male, 19 years, Rakhine Buddhist, Sittwe (Rakhine State urban) “Most young people don’t read news that they see on their newsfeed. They don’t purposely search for news to read.” Female, 22 years, Rakhine Buddhist, Sittwe (Rakhine State urban) Adults were more likely to think that most young people trust the news they see on social media (especially those living in rural areas), with some stating that young people do not have the required critical thinking skills. “Young people don’t have much critical thinking. Parents have more critical thinking as we have more experience. Only 25% of young people can differentiate between fake and news. Others trust things easily because they are still lacking knowledge and experience. Young people from villages are worse.” Male, 52 years, Rakhine Buddhist, Sittwe (Rakhine State urban) “Many believe in what they see on the news, because only 5% out of 100% of the news [is] not accurate.” Male, 35 years, Rohingya Muslim, Basara (Rakhine State IDP) While a number of young male participants agreed that young people do tend to trust the news they see on social media, most young people thought that trust in news on social media was generally low among their peers. “I don’t think they trust everything they see or read on social media because only two-thirds of the information online is true.” Female, 19 years, Chin Christian, Sittwe (Rakhine State urban) “There is [a lot of] fake news on social media so I don’t trust most of the news. I think 25% of young people trust what they see on social media.” Male, 31 years, Kayah Buddhist, Ve Seh Ku Village (Kayah State rural) Contradicting the views of most older interviewees, some young people said that it was actually parents and the elderly who are most to blame for the proliferation of fake news. 62