Deadly posts: Examining and countering harmful social media content in post-coup Myanmar explores the spread of hateful propaganda on widely used social media platforms in Myanmar – such as Facebook, Telegram, YouTube, and TikTok. The research was conducted by the Red Flag team, two experienced online activists who have monitored hateful content in Myanmar’s digital spaces for many years.
By Tay Zar Myo Win and Phyu Phyu Thi
MYANMAR DIGITAL RESEARCH 20
Executive summary
The 2021 military coup in Myanmar dismantled the country’s nascent democratic reforms and, over the past four years, has escalated into a full-scale war between the military regime and anti-coup armed groups. In its brutal crackdown on pro-democracy forces resisting the coup, the military has sought to control the public sphere both online and offline.
Spreading propaganda to legitimize the actions of the junta is a common tactic among authoritarian regimes and Myanmar is no exception. In the post-coup context, numerous unverified accounts and channels have emerged on widely used social media platforms—such as Facebook, Telegram, YouTube, and TikTok — disseminating vast amounts of hate propaganda, justifying the regime’s atrocities, and spreading harmful content. Much of this content targets individuals who express opposition to the military. Civil society organizations, fact-checking groups, and independent media have reported on these activities, prompting platforms like Facebook to respond by deplatforming users, removing content, and shutting down accounts. Despite these measures, bad actors continue to adapt, taking advantage of weak content moderation policies to maintain their presence online.
The real-world impacts of hate speech and harmful content on social media have been well-documented in existing research. In post-coup Myanmar, some of the most disturbing content poses life-threatening risks, including doxing personal information, encouraging arbitrary arrests or lethal attacks, and inciting violence against political opponents. In addition to extensive documentation by independent organizations, several participants in this study identified content calling for actions against political dissents as one of the most serious threats facing the people of Myanmar. While propaganda circulated by the military and its supporters aims to justify atrocities, most people do not believe these narratives, as their intent is often overt and easily recognizable. Rather than persuading the public, the primary objective appears to be demonstrating the regime’s power and instilling fear to deter dissent.
Current regulatory frameworks and content moderation policies of social media companies remain inadequate and are frequently exploited by military actors. These shortcomings enable the manipulation of digital platforms for committing and legitimizing human rights violations. This study explores how religious, ethnic, and gender minority groups are targeted on social media and analyzes the discursive strategies used by military supporters to justify violence and frame pro-democracy groups as aggressors. These efforts aim to normalize state-led oppression and present violent measures against dissenters as necessary and inevitable. The paper also examines countermeasures undertaken by social media companies and civil society organizations to address these threats.
Keywords: social media, hate speech, political dissent, disinformation, propaganda, content moderation, digital safety, democracy, media, Myanmar
This Myanmar Digital Research paper was produced for the Knowledge for Democracy Myanmar (K4DM) initiative, with the aid of a grant from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and with support from The SecDev Foundation. Views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of either organization.
Over the next two years, over twenty papers in the Myanmar Digital Research series will have researchers within and in the Myanmar diaspora exploring how the digital world is shaping their social, political and economic crisis, bringing new insights into issues facing Myanmar citizens. See below for others available now.