Dangerous Speech, Anti-Muslim Violence, and Facebook in Myanmar their numbers in part by marrying Buddhist women and forcing them to convert to Islam.6 They have ignored the fact that census records indicate the Muslim population remains less than 5 percent of the total population.7 Ultranationalists have also reacted strongly against Muslims in Myanmar who have adopted the hijab and other forms of dress typically worn by conservative Muslims in the Middle East. They have interpreted this as a sign of Muslims’ greater allegiance to their faith than to the Burmese nation. They have employed gruesome images of ISIS brutality and selective photos from episodes of communal violence in Myanmar to suggest all Muslims are potential terrorists.8 Some ultranationalists have also used dehumanizing language to characterize Muslims, a hallmark of dangerous speech. Muslims in Rakhine State who identify as Rohingya have been particularly vilified. Rohingya trace their ancestry to colonial-era migrants along with locally rooted Muslims, and many had citizenship documents in the early post-independence period. However, since the 1970s, successive Burmese governments have sought to reduce the Muslim population in parts of Rakhine State by not issuing them new citizenship cards, and restricting their access to healthcare, educational institutions, and economic opportunities, among other means.9 Since 2012, ultranationalists and the military leadership have popularized the use of the term “Bengali” for the Rohingya population. By characterizing them as immigrants from Bangladesh, they seek to delegitimize Rohingyas’ right to live in Myanmar. On Facebook and offline, ultranationalists framed two outbreaks of communal violence between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in 2012 as evidence that the Rohingya are terrorists who pose a national threat.10 Both communities felt afraid and committed acts of violence, including arson and murder. Yet most of the more than 100,000 people who were displaced were Muslim. The use of Facebook to spread anti-Muslim messages is not unique to Myanmar but there are aspects of the Myanmar context that have made the impact more severe. The country’s rapid opening and changes in the economic landscape have been unsettling, and many people worry that others will gain at their expense.11 For decades, teaching has been by rote memorization, meaning people have had no formal training in critically assessing information.12 Furthermore, some wellknown Buddhist monks are at the forefront of the Buddhist ultranationalist movement. Many Buddhist citizens are receptive to monks’ messages because they see monks as more aware of the true nature of things than laypeople.13 Anti-Muslim narratives resonate in part because of similar past state propaganda used to forge national unity. Since 2012, state media and some officials’ institutional and personal Facebook accounts have at times echoed Buddhist ultranationalist sentiments and concerns, adding to their validity.14 journal of international affairs | 45