Written by Tay Zar Myo Win and Phyu Phyu Thi
The spread of hateful propaganda on widely used social media platforms in Myanmar — such as Facebook, Telegram, YouTube, and TikTok — is the subject of “Deadly posts,” a research paper by the Red Flag team, two experienced online activists who have monitored hateful content in Myanmar’s digital spaces for many years.
Civil society organizations, fact-checking groups, and independent media have reported on the military’s propaganda activities, prompting platforms like Facebook to take action by deplatforming users, removing content, and shutting down accounts. But despite these measures, such actors continue to adopt, 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 included life-threatening risks, such as doxing personal information, encouraging arbitrary arrests or lethal attacks, and inciting violence against political opponents. 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 continued human rights violations. “Deadly posts” 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.
The Knowledge for Democracy Myanmar (K4DM) initiative continues to publish exciting research exploring the intersection of the digital world with politics and resistance in Myanmar. The collection of articles from independent Myanmar researchers reflect the complexities and challenges of ‘doing politics’ in the digital age. The 27 papers are funded under a K4DM project being carried out by the SecDev Foundation, a Canadian non-profit focused on digital safety. All of the researchers undergo digital risk assessment support as part of preparing for both online/digital and field research in Myanmar.