BSR | Human Rights Impact Assessment: Facebook in Myanmar 14 Specific aspects of user behavior on social media in Myanmar include the use of Facebook secret groups and the use of Facebook messenger to spread rumors. Most individuals will share a post by copy and paste the content, rather than using the “share” function. It is understood that many Facebook users use two to six different accounts simultaneously, and young adults often share online passwords among themselves. There is a 30 percent gap between men and women in mobile phone ownership.32 Some users are more vulnerable on social media than others. Women, in particular, report extortion and harassment by their photos being stolen or photoshopped and then posted to pornographic groups, along with their personal contact information. Rural people, people with lower incomes, and people with lower levels of education are more vulnerable to hate speech and misinformation. Older users are particularly digitally illiterate and more conservative, and they may be more likely to follow and subscribe to extremist nationalist content. It is commonplace for new mobile phone users to purchase phones from shops with Facebook preinstalled and Facebook accounts set up by shop owners without any knowledge of the user names and passwords. Some shop owners have been known to use this information to extort customers. 3.3 RELEVANT REGULATORY FRAMEWORK After five decades of military rule and a highly restrictive legal environment, Myanmar went through significant legislative reform to strengthen rule of law and protect fundamental human rights from 2008 to 2015. The constitution was reformed in 2008, and several laws were passed to supersede legislation enacted during the colonial period and by the military junta. However, this trend has stalled in recent years. The legal framework directly relevant to freedom of expression and the internet in Myanmar is summarized in this table, with analysis of the laws below: Law Requirement The Electronics Transactions Law (April 2004)33 » Preceded by the 1996 Computer Science Development Law, the purpose of this law is to support electronics transactions technology, recognize and provide legal protection to electronic records and data, enable transmission, receipt, and storage of information, and enable regional and international communication and cooperation. » Section 33 allows for seven to 15 years’ imprisonment and a fine for the following acts in using electronic transactions technology: » 32 33 o “Doing any act detrimental to the security of the State or prevalence of law and order or community peace and tranquility or national solidarity or national economy or national culture.” o “Receiving or sending and distributing any information relating to secrets of the security of the State or prevalence of law and order or community peace and tranquility or national solidarity or national economy or national culture.” Section 34(d) allows for up to five years’ imprisonment and/or a fine for a variety of acts, including “creating, modifying or altering of information or distributing of information created, modified or altered by electronic technology to be detrimental to the interest of or to lower the dignity of any organization or any person.” Freedom House, 2017. Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, 2004.