Echo chambers in Myanmar: Social media and the ideological justifications for mass violence

The ways that information and ideas move in Myanmar are about to change. Less than 10% of the population currently has a mobile phone; government and private sector projections are that this will grow to at least 80% by 2016. Experiences from regional neighbours indicate that expansion of mobile phone networks will be accompanied by Internet access and widespread use of social media. What are thepotential consequences of this, in Myanmar’s current political context? Myanmar is amidst a fraught and vulnerable transition away from authoritarian military rule, with the rise of potentially violent nationalism and extremist religious movements of particular concern. Substantial literature establishes a relationship between the strengthening of such extremist views and dynamics created by widespread use of social media. This paper connects this literature to current understandings of how mass violence is justified –how those who give orders to kill, those who kill, and those who otherwise participate or stand aside are motivated to do so, and how doing so is legitimised and rationalised. The paper then seeks to understand how these dynamics may apply in Myanmar. This is a necessarily forward-looking topic, but the approach taken here will be to analyse the potential alignment between these new communication technologies and those existing communication practices developed as a part of surviving under, and sometimes resisting, authoritarian rule. Analysis of such potential alignments supports the hypothesis that expansion of Internet access in Myanmar, particularly the rise of social media, will contribute to dynamics that have the potential to strengthen the ideological justifications necessary for mass violence. Yet the analysis in this paper points to a new kind of opportunity: insofar as these dynamics are recognized and understood, it may be possible to disrupt them. To the degree that social media does become the dominant platform for mass communication of information and ideas, it may then be a powerful platform for challenging these discourses, and promoting alternate visions for the future.

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