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taught the Buddhist friend about Islam, and had gotten rid of misconceptions that they had had from lack of education and rumours. Deconstructing the identity groups by promoting interfaith relationships is key in demystifying the Other, and in breaking down the social barriers that polarize different groups within society. One participant of focus group two said: ‘we need to change each other. It’s important to change the government and support Aung San Suu Kyi, but we need to change ourselves and our ideas one by one.’155 This thought supports the argument throughout this study that initiatives should promote awareness, understanding, and respect of others. Changes in the government are important, but changing our ideas and becoming more tolerant of different religious or ethnic groups is key to long lasting peace. 155 Participant, Focus Group Two, Interview by Davis, B., (2015). - 66 -

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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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2015-12-00-Religion-hate-speech-and-social-media-in-Myanmar-en-red.pdf
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Myanmar Internet Project

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

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