Victoire Rio The Role of Social Media in Fomenting Violence: Myanmar 7 prompt to establish a social media team to oversee the network social media presence. In addition to counting a dedicated social media committee, Ma Ba Tha is known to have provided regular training to its members on content creation and Facebook features as well as leveraging secret Facebook groups to coordinate their support. Propaganda Myanmar has a long history of propaganda – an art which the military and nationalist groups have honed over many years through offline medium, such as fliers, pamphlets, magazines, books, CDs and DVDs, as well as events and sermons. What Facebook offered these groups was unprecedented possibilities for reach, targeting and speed, which they were able to access at little to no cost and use to gain an oversized influence on the public discourse. Reach: Although Facebook access was originally limited to the cities, the arrival of new telecommunication operators quickly brought access to more rural areas. At the time of the August 2017 attacks, Facebook had approximately 18 million active users across the country. Whilst significant for a country of 53 million, these numbers should be seen in the light of Myanmar’s broader information dissemination dynamics, where people actively share information with family and friends. Targeting: Not only was the potential for reach significant, but Facebook also offered distinct targeting advantages. It facilitated the cheap and rapid testing of messages, allowed for the gathering of insights on people’s interests, tastes and aspirations, and offered possibilities for micro targeting, both organically through the creation of targeted communities, as well as through the use of paid ads. Speed: Facebook further offered unprecedented speed, allowing for real time publishing and making it possible for these groups to promptly react and build on real life events, which allowed them to capitalise on the raw emotions these incidents generate. Little to no cost: Compared to offline materials, which require large financial investments to produce and distribute, Facebook offered a free medium for content dissemination, as well as a cheap option for targeted ads. Though the military and Ma Ba Tha may have had only a few hundred staff working on their social media strategy full time, these groups were able to exert an oversized influence on the public discourse by relying on widespread networks of Facebook assets combined with strong marketing savviness. Widespread networks of assets Both groups relied on widespread networks of assets to distribute and amplify their propaganda: