2
Blue Shirt Initiative
1
Inside Social Media: The Blue Shirt’s Social Media Observation
KEY FINDINGS
In August, a total of 2,307 posts and 200 messages were collected from 207 Facebook pages and 24
Telegram channels. Overall, the trend of the message has not changed compared to the last seven
Citizens'
mobilization
(906)
months. The main messages posted by key political actors still primarily focus on the support of
military means or the use of violence to resolve the current political conflicts. These messages justified the use of military means or violence in response to the post-coup political conflicts and called
for support of violent measures to end the ongoing conflicts. Another common type of message was
the citizens’ mobilization, urging support for activities or campaigns, particularly those against the
Myanmar military such as the Key project, Tampon Campaign, and Way Back Home campaign, etc.
We have also noticed a trend promoting social division and hate speech against those with different
Citizen
participation
and Citizens’
mobilization
(906)
views or stances during our observation. Important messages that contributed to long-term goals,
such as federalism and political solutions, and promoted societal values such as equality, diversity,
inclusion, and social cohesion, were less common.
Equality/
Diversity/
Inclusion
(49)
Individual/
Collective
Rights
(8)
Militarization
(907)
Violence
(12)
Military means and violence (919)
300
Citizen participation and Citizens’ mobilization (906)
Social division and hatred (236)
Social
Cohesion
(12)
Federalism and political solutions (91)
250
Promoting
liberal and
democratic
values
(85)
Promoting liberal and democratic values (85)
Political
Tolerance
(16)
200
Military
means and
violence
(919)
Federalism
(51)
150
50
0
Federalism
and political
solutions
(91)
Political/
Peaceful
mean
(35)
100
Confederation
(5)
Divided/
Polarization
(74)
Social division
and hatred
(236)
Hate
Speech
(162)
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
Fig-1. Overall responses during this reporting period (Monthly)
August
Fig-2. Overall responses during this reporting period