1/3/22, 11:44 AM Inside the origins of a conspiracy theory about Myanmar and China conspiracy theories (https://firstdraftnews.org/articles/tag/conspiracytheories/), Myanmar (https://firstdraftnews.org/articles/tag/myanmar/), Social newsgathering (https://firstdraftnews.org/articles/tag/socialnewsgathering/) How Chinese-language characters contributed to conspiracy theories about the coup in Myanmar. Since Myanmar’s democratically elected government was ousted February 1, social media has been inundated with conspiracy theories and rumors. In this case study, we explore a recent theory that emerged when people in Myanmar noticed Chinese characters appearing on their mobile devices. Myanmar’s military junta announced on February 11 plans to introduce sweeping new cybersecurity laws (https://www.reuters.com/article/myanmar-politics-internet-int/myanmarjunta-cyber-bill-would-violate-rights-critics-say-idUSKBN2AA2AU) that would give authorities what Reuters called “unprecedented censorship powers,” less than a fortnight after it overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi’s government. The proposed laws led to speculation online and among protesters that Chinese IT equipment and technicians were being flown in to help implement an internet firewall, similar to the Great Firewall of China (https://www.internationalaffairs.org.au/news-item/the-great-china-firewall/). The junta has denied (https://www.ft.com/content/43e6ecfe-081a-4390-aa18-154ec87ff764) this, but fear over alleged Chinese support for the military coup was exacerbated when social media, particularly Twitter, erupted with claims that Chinese characters were appearing, seemingly at random, on mobile devices, smart TVs and apps following the announcement of the new cybersecurity laws. These rumors have since been debunked by internet monitoring firms and analysts, who said the characters’ appearance was the result of a technical glitch. https://firstdraftnews.org/articles/inside-the-origins-of-a-conspiracy-theory-about-myanmar-and-china/ 2/8