Over the past few years, as the military
junta has loosened its grip on the country, Burma’s people have flocked online
to sites like Facebook. But while many have used these sites to express their
thoughts and feelings for the progression of the country, there has also
appeared a dark underside to what is being said online.
The
opening of the country has released a cap on long held resentments, as a result
ethnic and religious violence has flared throughout the country.
While
internet penetration in the country is still low, particularly in the rural
areas, this is expected to begin quickly changing in the coming years.
In this
Southeast Asian nation of 53 million people, Facebook has quickly become the
dominant site for online discourse. In fact, the site is also used by Burma’s
government, which has announced large oil and telecommunications licenses via
online posts. But, Facebook has also become a key tool for the spread of hate
speech in this majority Buddhist country. The main targets of these attacks
have been those in the Muslim population, particularly the Rohingya Muslims.
Around
800,000 Rohingya Muslims live in Burma, mainly in the western parts of the
country. The Rohingya have been engaged in a simmering conflict with the Burma
government since 1947.
In
Burma, competition over land and resources tends to take place along religious
and ethnic lines. Most of the anti-Muslim violence has been centered in Rakhine
state.
Online,
the Muslims are often referred to as “dogs”. Others speak of their desire to
“clean” Burma of all Muslims and of killing anyone who dares to stay. This is
not simply a few “crazies” who are inciting violence, it seems clear that this
is an organized and well-planned online, and offline, campaign against the
Muslim population.
In a
recent incident, anti-Muslim extremists threatened to burn down cinemas that
were showing a documentary that focused on the violence against Muslims in
Burma. In addition, the extremists also threatened to riot again in Meiktila,
the site of a violent attack on the Muslim population that left 40 people dead
and thousands more displaced. Many of the threats made came via Facebook. The
movie was never shown since the theatre owners did not want to be the cause of
more violence.
Flower
power
A
number of movements have emerged that try and fight this rising tide of hate
speech and anti-Muslim violence. The “flower” movement, for example, focuses on
bringing order to online speech and encourages peaceful interaction. Panzagar,
one of the main organizations trying to encourage more peaceful interaction
online, has been in operation since 2013.
Organizations
like Panzagar walk a fine line. They do not want to encourage the government to
crack down on freedom of speech online; instead they want the internet to
remain a free and safe place for people to express their feelings. Many of
these organizations prefer to simply shine a light on the dark underbelly of
Burma’s internet and call attention to those inciting violence.
International
organizations such as the United Nations have taken note of the dark side of
social media interaction in Burma. These organizations are in the process of
developing programs to counter the hate speech and help people deal with the
sweeping changes that are occurring within their country.
In the
end, however, it is the people of Burma who are ultimately responsible for
putting an end to the violence that is happening in their country. The
government’s liberalization comes with a price – every individual must be
responsible for their actions and not allow themselves to be taken in by false
rumors and hate speech online.
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