Why Myanmar's Facebook Users Were Susceptible to Hate Speech.

Mona Kleinberg

Mona Kleinberg is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. She studies how technology and new media affect democratic politics in the US and abroad.

Jenifer Whitten-Woording

Jenifer Whitten-Woodring is Interim Dean of the Honors College, Co-director of the Global Studies Program, and an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. She studies the effects of media freedom and media access on human rights and democratic institutions.

Myat The Thitsar

Myat The Thitsar is a PhD candidate of the Global Studies Program at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Her work focuses on identity politics and political institutions in federal and transitional context. She is the Co-founder of Enlightened Myanmar Research Foundation (EMReF, www.emref.org), an accredited national research organization based in Myanmar (Burma).

Ardeth Thawnghmung

Ardeth Thawnghmung is Interim Director of Peace and Conflict Studies, Chair and Professor of Political Science at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. She studies comparative political economy, Southeast Asian politics and ethnic politics.

Abstract

Facebook’s diffusion in Myanmar has been linked to sharp increases in violence toward minority groups—especially the Rohingya. However, little is known about how people in Myanmar actually use Facebook, how they acquire, disseminate, and evaluate the information they find on the platform. We use a series of interviews conducted in Myanmar with people from many different backgrounds and ethnic groups to highlight how diverse Facebook use is in Myanmar. We show that although Facebook and the internet more broadly are western media, they do not necessarily bring an international perspective to Myanmar. In fact, we find that people utilize Facebook in a highly localized way. For example, most people almost exclusively trust and read local news on the platform, and many ethnic minorities whose alphabet is not available on Facebook find ways to circumvent this barrier and use Facebook as their “village square.”