5/23/22, 12:10 AM Home About us The Hate Speech Threat to the 2020 Election | Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs Experts & publications Study Issues & impact Regions & countries News & events Home » Events & media » The Hate Speech Threat to the 2020 Election Image: Steve Tickner/Frontier The Hate Speech Threat to the 2020 Election 6 April 2019 BY HUNTER MARSTON More information Myanmar’s 2020 general election is still more than eighteen months away, but key stakeholders are beginning to position themselves for it. As well as the election race, which is likely to be closer than in 2015, the ruling National League for Democracy must prepare to face a combustible mix of social media and nationalism. Fake news and hate speech circulating on Facebook and mobile messaging apps such as Viber may destabilise politics and disrupt the preparations for next year’s vote. PhD Candidate Race and religious identity remain potent and divisive issues in Myanmar and have sparked violent conflicts when weaponised on social media. Consider Mandalay, where violence between Buddhists and Muslims in 2014 was fuelled in large part by the incitement of Buddhist hardliners linked to the 969 movement. These conflicts have helped shape the country’s politics, and any resumption could dent the NLD’s popularity. Meiktila in Mandalay Region provides an example. Before the 2015 election, lingering tension between religious communities in the town, where there was an outbreak of communal violence in 2013, was credited with a rise in support for the Union Solidarity and Development Party, which took a seat from the NLD in Meiktila in 2015. Political analysts fear that the USDP may appeal to race and religion in an attempt to lure voters away from the NLD in 2020. Ko Amara Thiha, an analyst at the Myanmar Institute for Peace and Security, explained that rather than seeking to expand political support by attracting new voters, Myanmar’s winnertakes-all electoral system incentivises parties to radicalise their base because a party only needs a plurality of votes to win a district, as opposed to a majority. Political parties can therefore focus strategy on getting dedicated supporters to vote on election day. You might also like Stirring Hatreds Ahead of Myanmar Elections BY HUNTER MARSTON Has the US Lost Myanmar to China? Life of the Party Facebook Can't Resolve Conflicts in Myanmar and Sri Lanka On Its Own Democracy at a Crossroads in Southeast Asia: Great Power Rivalry Meets Domestic Governance Destiny's Child If the USDP wanted to fire up its military-aligned base, which is prone to nationalism, it may try to paint State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as being too soft on Muslims or not doing enough to protect the Bamar majority in the context of the peace process. Quick-spreading fake news, used for character assassination or to stoke prejudices, could exacerbate the tense climate that accompanies an election. Ko Ye Wai Phyo Aung, one of the https://bellschool.anu.edu.au/news-events/news/7048/hate-speech-threat-2020-election 1/3