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Burmese government accused of 'double standard' on online hate speech
Irrawaddy - October 20, 2015
Criticism has mounted since last week, when a 25-year-old woman was charged for sharing on Facebook a photo collage of National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi wearing a green traditional htamein, comparing it to the newly redesigned uniforms of Burma Armed Forces chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing and other military personnel.
On Wednesday, 43-year-old Kachin peace activist Patrick Kum Jaa Lee was arrested for sharing a picture of a man wearing a Kachin-style longyi stepping on a portrait of Min Aung Hlaing.
Both cases were filed by military officers, and the accused have both been under detention since the arrests.
"They are quite responsive when they are mocked. What about those attacks on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi online?" asked Thein Than Oo of the Myanmar Lawyers Network, referring to some widely-shared digitally altered images that have sought to denigrate the opposition leader.
Lawyer and activist Ko Ni said the government had consistently failed to take action against social media posts that directed hate speech against both Buddhists and Muslims.
"There are many profane posts online that defame both religions, fanning communal violence, but we rarely hear that the people behind these posts are charged," he told The Irrawaddy.
Hate speech spreads
As the price of smartphones and SIM cards has plummeted, the number of Burmese regularly using social media has skyrocketed. Phandeeyar, the technology-focused civil society organization based in downtown Rangoon, estimates there to be around 6 million Facebook users in the country.
But Burma's belated introduction to the networked society has also led to disturbing consequences.
When 10 Muslim men were lynched while on a bus journey through the Arakan State town of Taungup in 2012 – a response to the alleged rape of a Buddhist woman – the graphic aftermath went viral over Facebook.
The violence heralded a new era of hate speech among the Burmese Facebook community, which sought to stoke ethnic and religious tensions and led to incidents of deadly communal violence in several places across the country.
In the latest episode, the influential Buddhist monk U Wirathu shared a post on Facebook accusing the Muslim owner of a Mandalay teashop of sexually assaulting a Buddhist woman. Though the allegation proved to be false, the subsequent violence left two people dead in Burma's second-largest city.
The incidents led the Burmese government to seek help from Facebook and other technology companies in monitoring the use of hate speech in social media since.
President's Office director Zaw Htay told The Irrawaddy that the government was carrying out several tasks to fight against hate speech online, including the drafting of new laws to regulate online conduct, forming a police force to monitor internet-related crimes and promoting awareness of Facebook user requirements.
"Now users have to submit their phone number to activate their Facebook accounts. If they do something bad, they can be traced down," he said, adding when asked that he didn't know the number of people charged for spreading hate speech online.
Nay Phone Latt, an anti-hate speech campaigner and NLD candidate for the Lower House seat of Thingangyun in Rangoon, said the government's neglect of religious hate speech while selectively cracking down on political expression was an ominous sign.
"The recent arrests show that the government is still sensitive when it comes to military-related issues," he said. "Users should be careful and remember that we still have some 'untouchable zones'."
Lies, damned lies and Facebook
As the campaign for Burma's landmark 2015 election intensifies, the intensity of online support for various candidates has been matched only by the spread of posts mocking or defaming prominent political figures.
On Tuesday morning, Than Tun, the joint-secretary of the incumbent Union Solidarity and Development Party's (USDP) Kangyidaunt Township office in Irrawaddy Division was arrested, three days after posting a digitally altered photo to Facebook that transposed Suu Kyi's face onto the body of a naked woman.
The plaintiff who filed the initial complaint with the township police office, Sithu Aung, has suggested that the police delayed their arrest of Than Tun, who will be charged under the same provision of the Telecommunications Law as Patrick Kum Jaa Lee.
Many other examples of online abuse directed at Suu Kyi, including some from official circles, have not been subjected to legal proceedings.
Khin Sandar Tun, the wife of Information Minister Ye Htut last year shared a digitally altered image of Suu Kyi wearing Islamic clothing, as part of an attempt to criticize the opposition leader for her attempts to broker changes to Burma's military-drafted 2008 Constitution.
The image, widely shared and criticized on Facebook, prompted Ye Htut to make a personal apology to Suu Kyi.
In another incident this week, outspoken USDP lawmaker 'Bullet' Hla Swe posted on Facebook a photo of a mural depicting the opposition leader set against a background featuring the Brighton Pavillion. Mistaking the grand Georgian edifice for a mosque, Hla Swe's caption implied that Suu Kyi was a supporter of Burma's Muslim community – a provocative accusation after years of religious unrest and mutual suspicion.
A subsequent post by Hla Swe claimed that his account was hacked and he was not responsible for publishing the photo, which was later removed from his page.
Thein Than Oo said that it was concerning that defamation laws were being applied selectively. "The law shouldn't be a double standard. What is happening now is they take action when they are criticized, while turning a blind eye to attacks on others," he said.
Source: http://www.irrawaddy.org/election/news/burmese-govt-accused-of-double-standard-on-online-hate-speech.
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