Analysis: Current Landscape of Hate Speech in Myanmar if they post something like that, their post will be taken down and people can’t share anymore. People wouldn’t blindly share something like “please kill her,” but they are [using] different strategy[ies] to escalate [things]. . . . They got into my photo albums . . . and got one of the photos I took with one of my friends . . . [who] looks like a Muslim . . . [and] posted it saying, “Look, who is she coupling with?”556 Other interviewees echoed the sentiment that women activists have been frequently targeted with rumors that they are dating Muslim men, which has been spread in posts that come with accu- sations such as being a traitor or being a Muslim’s wife.557 Another HRD described that in response to their work: I was followed by many people and my photo was being taken. Then it was spread on social media, mentioning where I had been and what my activities were. . . . Some of my close friends dare not talk to me anymore. They started to avoid me.558 In an interview with the Southeast Asian Press Alliance, journalist Esther Htusan described accounts by other local women journalists who said that they did not receive additional safety when reporting from the field despite their heightened vulnerability.559 Htusan’s critical reporting of the Rohingya crisis and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi made her a personal target of such attacks. For instance, an ultranationalist with more than 300,000 followers on Facebook posted that she was a “bitch” and advocated that she be murdered.560 Htusan reported being stalked and threatened in person following the viral post, and she eventually left Myanmar out of fear for her safety.561 Chilling Activism The increasingly antagonistic and restrictive environment for civil society actors has also resulted in a number of personal impacts – from feelings of divisions in civil society to self-censorship to ex- periencing a sense of fear, isolation, discouragement, or loss of hope. All these impacts have affected the collective civil society community’s ability to combat hate speech effectively. Among some within the activist community, criticism of the government—and its treatment of the Rohingya—remains a contested issue. “Having a strong sense of ethnicity is also a challenge inside our network too,” said one activist, “We used to have some members only based on their own ethnic people who didn’t want to work for others. . . . One of our network’s members is Rakhine, and even though he believes in human rights, he doesn’t believe in Rohingya—doesn’t even mention them. So when we talk about our common understanding of the Rohingya crisis, it is a huge struggle.”562 In 556 557 558 559 560 561 562 002-R1-01, 6-7. 002-R4-04, 2. 001-R2-01, 6. “Reporting While Female: A Talk with Pulitzer Winner Esther Htusan,” January 5, 2017, https://gijn.org/2017/01/05/ reporting-while-female-a-talk-with-pulitzer-winner-esther-htusan/. Shawn Crispin, “Threats, Arrests, and Access Denied.” Ibid. 002-R1-01, 2. 83