4 4.1 B. Field Research Findings Freedom of Expression Human Rights Implicated: Freedom of expression and opinion Field Assessment Findings        Many interviewees felt that reference to the impact of behaviour resulting specifically from ICTs is currently excluded from existing laws and regulations impacting freedom of expression in Myanmar. Interviewees highlighted a lack of guidelines across public and private institutions on how to use social media appropriately. Most interviewees felt that monks were in positions of particular prominence and power regarding their influence on public opinion and the messages they convey. They felt monks’ sermons were generally abided by without question by their followers. Some interviewees questioned the effectiveness of some service provider’s ‘real names policies’ in Myanmar as often people open many social media or other online accounts under fake names. Many interviewees wanted to see educational campaigns and programmes introduced by the Government, on TV/media, and in Myanmar schools on the impacts of dangerous speech and the need for respect and tolerance. Many interviewees did not report online speech and content they found offensive to site administrators because they did not know this was possible and because Internet connection was too slow. (See Chapter 4.2 Hate Speech) Although filtering of online content appears to have reduced, BlueCoat network equipment 269 (used for filtering) was observed in one ISP’s data centre. While this equipment was noted as legacy hardware pre-2011, it was unclear who had access to the equipment in the data centre. Any formal process around managing requests to block or filter content was unavailable, as was a mechanism to communicate with customers regarding impacts of such requests on them. Freedom of Opinion Human Rights Implicated: Freedom of expression and opinion Field Assessment Findings    269 Some clear tensions were observed by researchers between traditional Myanmar culture and the introduction of more modern or global cultural trends via ICTs. Many interviewees felt that women were more vulnerable to impacts on their ‘dignities’ from others’ behaviours online and needed to be protected or limited from such exposure. Researchers also received many reports of users believing all information published online was true and not yet understanding how social media and other platforms worked. See: CItizenLab, “Behind Blue Coat: An update from Burma” (29 November 2011). 134 PAGE CHAPTER 4.1: FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION