Social media inflames violent hatred of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar

Hatred in Myanmar has led to what the United Nations described as "ethnic cleansing" of Rohingya Muslims, and social media has inflamed some of that vitriol.

According to The New York Times, Facebook is the sole news source for many people in Myanmar, where around 90 percent of the population has a mobile device. On Facebook, as many who use it now understand, journalism mixes with false internet drivel designed to generate outrage.

The Myanmar military has forced around 600,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee the majority Buddhist nation since the end of August, orchestrating a shockingly quick and violent campaign to burn Rohingya homes and kill civilians, often leaving them with a choice to run for the border or die.

Social media rumors have likely reinforced widespread indifference to Rohingya suffering. Facebook in Myanmar, Bloomberg recently wrote, "has become a platform for hate speech and incendiary rumors targeted at vulnerable minority groups."

A textbook example recently came from none other than a spokesperson for Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's de facto leader. The Facebook post said that food from a United Nations agency was spotted at a camp of Rohingya "terrorists," implying that the U.N. was feeding assailants who attacked the Myanmar military. The UN called the post "irresponsible."

The Myanmar government has also taken to posting videos of burned and otherwise wrecked Rohingya homes that they claim were destroyed by Rohingya militants, despite eyewitness claims that the military was to blame, according to Deutsche Welle.

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The disinformation has helped distract from the violent reality of the Rohingya, a people in search of a country.