11/22/22, 4:37 PM Pro-military death squad rallies openly on social media | Frontier Myanmar “If you love your country and religion, join as much as you can. Do not share this post,” the account said. Pro-military users spreading disinformation and hate speech have long discouraged the sharing of posts in order to evade Facebook moderation; sometimes, they ask followers to copy and paste the post instead. As of May 18, the post had just four shares, but more than 700 reactions, and remained online. The post was taken down after Frontier reported it to Facebook. Ba Chit has also posted about Pyusawhti paramilitary groups; these militias have been particularly active in Sagaing and Magway regions, where they fight against resistance forces, often alongside military soldiers. The junta has admitted to supporting Pyusawhti militias. On January 22, Ba Chit posted that “our group will go and fight together with the Pakokku militia”, referring to a township in Magway Region. On April 27, he encouraged new recruits to join a Mandalay Pyusawhti, saying they must provide their age, phone number address and citizenship scrutiny card. “Every Pyusawhti group is organised and does not accept unruly people,” he wrote. The Ba Chit account also made a Facebook post appealing for donations, which seemed to reveal that the name of the person operating the account is U Myint Zaw Oo. Another pro-military activist, U Kyaw Htun Thein, also appears to be linked to Thwe Thauk. He runs at least six different Facebook accounts, one of which uses the Thwe Thauk logo as its cover banner. In a livestream on April 28, which accumulated over 8,400 views, he confirmed the existence of Thwe Thauk and claimed to be a member. “One thing I can guarantee is that this group really exists, but I will not say who is in this group and who is directing it,” he said, claiming there were branches in Mandalay, Yangon and Nay Pyi Taw. “We do not kill every NLD supporter. But if this man is supporting terrorism, we will kill him. If he is not at home, we will kill his family.” Inciting violence is a violation of Facebook’s terms of service. The video was removed after Frontier reported it to Facebook. Both Kyaw Htun Thein and Ba Chit appear to have links to ultranationalist anti-Muslim monk U Wirathu. On several occasions, Kyaw Htun Thein has posted pictures of himself on Facebook donating money to Wirathu. In April, Ba Chit posted that he provided security for Wirathu during a public sermon, but Frontier could not independently verify this. Another Facebook account, called Aung Ko Ko Min, claimed to be a spokesperson for Thwe Thauk. When the grandfather of an actor who joined the armed resistance was killed in Yangon, Aung Ko Ko Min gloated on Facebook. “How do you feel now? I think you are crying in the jungle. Your dear grandfather has kept a coin in his mouth for you. Hello, all patriots from Mandalay, the Yangon Thwe Thauk group also showed their skills,” he wrote. Aung Ko Ko Min runs an organisation called Eagle Humanitarian Charity, which collects donations to support the military. On April 24, he uploaded a photo showing himself directly delivering aid to a soldier. Wai Phyo Myint said Facebook is much more responsive than Telegram, “but there are still some serious problems” with content moderation. “If we say, look at this, these are the evidence, they take it down. If we miss it, they miss it,” she said. Frontier had a similar experience. While reporters viewed many posts that clearly violated Facebook’s terms of service, they were taken down only after Frontier reported them. https://www.frontiermyanmar.net/en/pro-military-death-squad-rallies-openly-on-social-media/ 4/9