Mobile Myanmar: The Impact of Social Media on Young People Living in Conflict-Affected Regions of Myanmar When asked what kinds of hate speech and rumours were most likely to be believed and/or shared by young people, the most common responses were posts about religion or ethnicity (as opposed to politics per se), particularly posts about other groups or from other states. Rumours and hate speech related to the ‘Rakhine versus Muslim’ conflict was specifically identified by some Rakhine urban respondents as being widely believed by young people. This is worrying given the reported link between hate speech on social media and violence against Muslim communities (McKirdy, 2018). “News like a Kalar killed a Rakhinese who was searching for food in the jungle…They [young people] believe both real news and rumour.” Male, 55 years, Chin Christian, Sittwe (Rakhine State urban) “Mainly on the current Rakhine and Muslim conflicts. Because of the extreme love for their ethnicity.” Male, 20 years, Rakhine Buddhist, Sittwe (Rakhine State urban) “They tend to easily believe in news from other states like Kachin, Chin and Shan as they don’t know about the situation in those states and they don’t have any connection from there.” Female, 18 years, Kaman Muslim, Basara (Rakhine State IDP) Some thought that young people from rural villages were more likely to believe and share rumours. “In my view, most young people don’t believe in rumours. They verify the rumours. This is related to education. Those who are educated understand what a rumour is…Urban young people don’t easily trust what they see because they know a lot of information while young people from villages have limited access to news information.” Female, 27 years, Rakhine Buddhist, Sittwe (Rakhine State urban) It was also reported that victims of hate speech also share fake news and hate speech posts among themselves, to share the resentment they feel. Unfortunately, this would result in only increasing the visibility of these posts to the wider public due to Facebook’s algorithms related to post sharing. “News related to race. For example, the post that said Kayan people in Mobye will kill all Kayah people and will found their new nation. This made Kayah people resentful, so they shared this post among themselves.” Male, 24 years, Kayah Christian, Daw Lyar Ku & Htee Seh Kaloe (Kayah State rural) Few interviewees were aware of any influential figures working to counter hate speech online. A couple of young adult Kayah residents mentioned that a certain (unnamed) civil society organization (CSO) provided training around hate speech and made attempts to address misunderstandings on social media. Most of the few young people who were aware of influential figures working to counter hate speech were from urban Rakhine, but they were vague about who they were and what they were saying. Those who were identified, for example Wai Han Aung (a writer), were said to be countering hate speech by ‘promoting peace’. Other responses referred to friends, rather than influential figures. “There are some individuals who post things on social media trying to explain misunderstandings. CSO [Civil Society Organization] also intervenes to solve misunderstandings. There are some ethnic youth leaders like Khun Bedu who are influential among young people.” Female, 30 years, Kayan Christian, Loikaw (Kayah State urban) 70