Victoire Rio The Role of Social Media in Fomenting Violence: Myanmar 11 rumours were shared widely across the country, by Facebook accounts often unknown Mass messaging campaign circulated on Facebook Messenger between 6-11 September 2017 Rough translation: On the right: “Be warned and stay alert. The Kalar are planning to launch a Jihad on Monday 11 Sept. Warn your friends. The order to get ready with guns has already been issued in the army. Please forward this message in the chat box. Friends, brothers and sisters, let’s unite." On the left: "Dear Islam brotherhood, be warned and stay alert. On Monday 11 Sept in Yangon, Ma Ba Tha and extremist nationalists will collaborate and they will launch an anti kalar movement. Please forward this message to our brothers. to those receiving the message, and were amplified by extensive reference across various accounts, pages and groups, which sought to give them credibility. Though it is difficult to tie what happened in Northern Rakhine in 2017 to individual pieces of Facebook content, the sustained campaigns waged on Facebook by both the military and Ma Ba Tha from as early as 2012 undoubtedly played a part in creating an enabling environment for the military crackdown and violence that took place. This is evidenced by the fact that the public opinion at the time was overwhelmingly supportive of the military and its use of force, which many within Myanmar saw as being justified on the basis of the narratives they had been fed for years on Facebook. Surveillance