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This began as a response to the anti-Muslim sentiment and has now got over 75,000 followers on Facebook.108 In 2013 an activist named Nay Phone Latt who spent four years in jail for his online activism, launched the campaign that aimed to raise awareness of the dangers of hate speech and violent language online.109 When asked if there are many positive campaigns on Facebook, focus group one discussed this campaign as an initiative that has been created to counter hate speech, though observed that it may only be used among people who are already open-minded towards religious and ethnic diversity.110 My Friend Campaign Focus group one also discussed this campaign which is aimed at countering religious discrimination that arises from hate speech, and encourages people ‘to be peaceful living with one another.’ One participant explained the process: ‘so she is Buddhist and I am Muslim, we would take a selfie and post it on Facebook. Then we write “I am Muslim, she is Buddhist … we live peacefully.”’111 This campaign encourages the posting of photographs of interfaith-friendships, from people with any religious backgrounds. When asked if any of the participants know anyone who has had their attitudes changed by this, one told us of a Buddhist friend from school who was sensitive about religion and did not really want to be friends with Muslims, but when she (the participant, a Muslim) asked if she wanted to be involved in the campaign and take a photo with her to post on Facebook, she was keen to take part. The participant added that once she had done this, her friend became more tolerant of Islam and curious about it, wanting to learn about religious beliefs such as eating Halal. Though this is just one incident, it is a good example of the development of relationships that can be key in preventing violence in the long term. Participants did advise that My 108 Panzagar Facebook page available at: https://www.facebook.com/panzagar [November 2015]. 109 Pen America: free expression, free literature, ‘Nay Phone Latt, Myanmar’, available at: http://www.pen.org/defending-writers/nay-phone-latt [November 2015]. 110 Participant, Focus Group One, Interview by Davis, B., (2015). 111 Participant, Focus Group One, Interview by Davis, B., (2015). - 49 -

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Religion, hate speech and social media in Myanmar: Analysing methods of intervention

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Language

English

Topic

Hate Speech
Rohingya Crisis

Author(s)

Bethany Davis

Date Published: Dec 1, 2015

Abstract: Myanmar is home to one of the longest running intrastate conflicts in the world, involving a series of ethnic and religious clashes that have caused harm to all parties involved. The ideology of a homogeneity based on Buddhism and the Bamar ethnicity has marginalized minority groups, which make up a third of the population, and has particularly affected the Rakhine state’s Buddhist and Muslim communities, the latter of which are subject to what international human rights organizations are calling an ethnic cleansing. Since the government relaxed restrictions to the access of foreign websites, the social media site Facebook has become a popular means to disseminate misinformation and rumours, and this has created mistrust and hatred against Muslims across the country, heightening the polarization between Buddhist and Muslim groups. This study will combine conflict analysis with the assessment of different approaches of countering hate speech to propose which methods of intervention are most suitable for this situation in Myanmar. Lederach argues that to counter hatred and avoid reoccurrence of violence, deep alterations of the parties’ relationships is needed. This idea forms the basis for chapter three which examines educational methods, interfaith projects and social media campaigns to both prevent and change negative attitudes towards the religious ‘Other’. It argues that education and awareness campaigns are more effective than the implementation of legal regulation as we need to combat the underlying issue. In addition to secondary sources, this study involved field research to collect information about how the youth are influence by hate speech and counter hate campaigns in Myanmar.

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Religion, hate speech and social media in Myanmar: Analysing methods of intervention

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