Some of Panzagar’s organizing techniques, including the use of Facebook stickers, are taken directly from opponents’ playbooks, which bridge online and offline activism. Downloading materials from Panzagar’s Facebook page, local youth groups in Kachin State and Mandalay printed their own T-shirts and pamphlets. The “Youth and Social Harmony” civil society group led a street campaign that reached 56 cities and towns. Panzagar’s own Facebook page has garnered more than 14,000 “likes.” The coalition has held workshops and distributed notebooks in public schools. “I am a Buddhist, and I am against the so-called Buddhist extremists,” said Nay Phone Latt, the executive director of the Myanmar ICT for Development Organization, which coordinates the campaign’s online strategy. “We are doing this campaign not as Buddhists or Muslims, but as Myanmar citizens.” Panzagar has received endorsements from Myanmar celebrities, with two songs, “We Are All Human” and “Flower Speech,” set for release in the next month. In June, Panzagar received the Citizen of Burma award, an annual honor bestowed by Burmese living abroad. Opposition has included a fake Panzagar Facebook page created by anti-Muslim groups. This incident demonstrated that “online hate speech in Myanmar is systematically organized,” said Matt Schissler, an adviser to the civil society group Paung Ku. When Panzagar reported the page to Facebook, it was deleted, and the “likes” were reassigned to the real Panzagar page. “It (Panzagar) is peacebuilding against hatred,” said Ko Thit Sar, a Muslim youth leader and volunteer with the Panzagar campaign. “Where the government and community allow this kind of speech, and nobody is working against this speech, and they never speak up against it — that is the normal way to discrimination.” This story is part of a series on religious tolerance and combating hate speech online, brought to you with support from Google. This story is part of a series on religious freedom and conflict in Myanmar, brought to you with support from Religion Newswriters and the British Foreign &?038; Commonwealth Office. Copyright: For copyright information, please check with the distributor of this item, Religion News Service LLC.  Comments