New Media, Old Narratives? Myanmar's Internet Boom and the Spread of Anti-Rohingya Propaganda on Social Media

The article untangles the impact of Myanmar’s ongoing internet boom in terms of the perpetuation of a State-sponsored ideology rooted in an ethno-nationalist paradigm of citizenship, which is ultimately aimed at creating a clear demarcation between the country’s Bamar-Buddhist majority and a wide array of minority groups. In such perspective, the repercussions unleashed by the rapid spread of social media amongst the Burmese population seem nowhere more visible than in the recent evolution of the Rohingya conundrum, that is paving the way for the emergence of a plethora of trolls and “keyboard armies” backed by governmental authorities with the precise intent of advancing a dehumanising narrative against minorities. Accordingly, after having examined the crucial milestones ingrained in the country’s political transition and the enduring relevance displayed by ethno-nationalism, the analysis shifts on the key drivers and demographics involved in the astonishing surge of digital devices among Burmese citizens, while also considering the main loopholes in the normative framework erected in recent years in the field of information and communication technologies (ICTs). Finally, the last paragraph looks at the role of the digital realm in the midst of the current revamp of the Rohingya crisis, arguing that Myanmar is progressively tilting from the previous system based on the active suppression of any dissenting voice, to a new environment characterized by the harassment, scapegoating, and self-censorship of those who do not conform with the concept of Burmese identity as portrayed by the State. With regards to the key drivers involved in the flourishing of ethno-nationalist sentiments amongst Myanmar’s netizens, the investigation thus contends that the country’s long-standing reliance on xenophobic and assimilationist policies, together with the rapid dissemination of ICTs in a framework characterized by low levels of digital literacy and normative weaknesses, loomed very large in producing such a worrisome trend.