6 Policy Brief No. 78 Toda Peace Institute Digital Novices Myanmar users did not grow accustomed to technology as it developed. From a controlled information environment, they went straight into information overload, with little or no time to develop the critical digital and media literacy skills needed to serve as a foundation for internet safety. The virtual and seemingly anonymous nature of the web further provided users with a false sense of safety and freedom, which led many to see their online identity as detached from their offline identity. This altered their sense of responsibility and self-restraint, normalised the practice of “friending” strangers, and created a sense of detachment from one’s personal account. This in turn normalised the notion that one could have more than one account (two accounts are considered normal), while also reducing the importance and relevance of privacy. It is not uncommon to see Myanmar people set up new accounts whenever they get logged out or share passwords or even accounts with others – a practice particularly favoured by young couples, who see sharing accounts or account details as a display of trust and love. Such practices have made Myanmar users particularly vulnerable to scams and harassment, while also creating a favourable climate in which irresponsible speech and misinformation prosper. The Weaponisation of Facebook The military and Ma Ba Tha—the Buddhist nationalist organisation—were amongst the first to recognise the potential of Facebook in Myanmar, which they went on to use for propaganda, surveillance and coordination purposes. Strategic and coordinated leveraging of Facebook The military, which has been sending officers to study in Russia since 2001, was among the first adopters of the Facebook platform in Myanmar. It was quick to launch a dedicated curriculum as part of its Defense Service Academy Information Warfare training and reportedly set up specialised social media units dedicated to producing and promoting content, engaging in social media monitoring, and trolling critics. According to the New York Times, these units included as many as 700 officers as of October 2018, working in shifts in troll farms. Ma Ba Tha monks were similarly amongst Facebook’s early adopters, seeing in the platform a major way to support the development of their movement. In a 2016 interview with Buzzfeed, Wirathu, one of the leading monks behind the Ma Ba Tha movement and a Facebook early adopter, acknowledged that “If the internet had not come to [Myanmar], not many people would know my opinion and messages like now,” adding that he had always written books and delivered sermons but that the “internet is a faster way to spread the messages”. Wirathu quickly learned that consistency was key to engagement and was