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Showing posts from June 16, 2014

Facebook in Myanmar: Amplifying hate speech?

Facebook has gained immense traction in Myanmar in recent years [Photo: Hereward Holland/Al Jazeera]   By Hereward Holland Al Jazeera June 14, 2014 Since violence erupted in 2012, Facebook users in Myanmar have fanned anti-Muslim sentiment. Yangon, Myanmar - A nest of laptops in a shabby downtown apartment here acts as the modest, but passionate, command centre of Myanmar's battle against hate speech. White flowers stand in a glass bottle on a table surrounded by volunteers sitting cross-legged, lit up by their computer screens. The group of young people work for Panzagar, a new civil society organisation dedicated to countering the tide of online vitriol with flower power or, more accurately, flower speech. "Now, compared to the military regime, we have some freedom, there is no censorship, and we can use the internet and write whatever we want on the Facebook," said Panzagar's Nay Phone Latt. "But at that time there are so many people who misuse the fre