6/11/22, 9:52 PM Burma: Constructive Engagement in Cyberspace? | Cultural Survival Day, Mon dancers, a brief history of the Mon, Mon linguistic information, and press releases from the New Mon State Party, the political wing of the Mon resistance army. One Rohingya exile regularly posts background information about ethnic groups in Arakan State (also known as Rakhine) on an exile Burmese community listserver, `maykha-l' (see above). Communal tensions between two ethnic groups in Arakan state, the Rohingya Muslims and Arakanese Buddhists, have been exacerbated by the SLORC and thousands of Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh. By increasing Burmese peoples' knowledge about the two groups, there is a better chance of being able to peacefully reconcile the tensions in the future. Conclusion In the mid 1990s, Burmese activists started two listservers: `free-burma' and `maykha.' Another listserver, `burmanet-l,' features newspaper and magazine articles, as well as updates from exile groups based in the border areas around Burma. The SLORC responded in 1997 by creating its own listserver, `Myanmar-list.' The SLORC posts `information sheets' and news articles from the state-controlled paper, the New Light of Myanmar, on its own listserver, as well as the other listservers which are clearly anti-SLORC. Activists often respond critically to the SLORC postings and SLORC personnel occasionally answer back. In the past four years, Burmese activists have assembled numerous homepages with news from Burma, information about rallies and boycotts, liberation songs, and speeches by Aung San Suu Kyi. In 1996, the SLORC developed its own webpage, `Myanmar.com,' which features tourist and cultural information, as well as diatribes against Aung San Suu Kyi and the foreigners who have supported the movement. The Internet has given members of the ethnic minority groups of Burma an opportunity to explain their cultures and their demands for minority rights, both to Burmans and to the international community. Several of the ethnic minority groups from Burma, have realized the potential of the Internet and have been empowered by the new-found opportunity to voice their concerns publicly and freely. Although the SLORC has still refused to engage either the pro-democracy, or ethnic minority resistance groups in a genuine political dialogue inside the country, a dialogue of sorts is taking place on the Internet. The SLORC feels compelled to respond to news stories and accusations posted on the listservers, and at least some personnel are regularly reading the statements and arguments of the resistance organizations posted on listservers and websites. The openness and freedom which characterizes the Internet is in direct contrast https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/burma-constructive-engagement-cyberspace 6/10