When the military coup in Myanmar started, the Myanmar military ordered local internet providers to block social media network like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc mainly in retaliation to Facebook’s decision to take down the Myanmar army’s Facebook pages; and partly because protesters are actively using the social site to protest the coup whether by sharing photos of themselves giving the iconic three-finger salute or organizing protests in real life.
However, like everything on the internet (and in life), when one door closes, another opens.
The Rise of TikTok
With many of the popular social media getting banned left and right, the people of Myanmar have fewer options to turn to when it comes to getting their news and entertainment, as well as having a platform to express themselves.
As a result, other popular social apps such as TikTok saw a substantial rise in downloads, quickly rising up the ranks to become the top 20 most downloaded apps in the country.
Naturally, the app became very popular among young activists. A quick search for the protest hashtag, #SaveMyanmar, will result in videos with a total of more than 895 million views.
Due to this, it’s not surprising that Myanmar’s pro-military side is using the site to push their own agenda as well.
An Unlikely Digital Battleground
Digital rights group, Myanmar ICT for Development (Mido), said it has uncovered over 800 pro-military videos that threaten protesters, and that it’s just “the tip of the iceberg”.
Inversely, Mido executive director Htaike Htaike Aung was also quoted as saying that “there were ‘hundreds’ of videos of threatening uniformed soldiers and police on the app”.
However, to be fair, the level of threats is vastly different between the protesters and the pro-military, mostly-uniformed (as seen in their videos) users.
Reuters reviewed Mido’s claims and found several videos that supported the claims.
There’s one from late February showing a man in Myanmar’s army uniform aiming what seems to be an actual assault rifle at the camera, and said, “I will shoot in your f**king faces… and I’m using real bullets.”
“I am going to patrol the whole city tonight and I will shoot whoever I see… If you want to become a martyr, I will fulfil your wish,” he added.
Whatever happened to days when people just dance in TikTok?
What’s Done About It?
TikTok has been pretty prompt, by social media standards, in responding to calls to ban videos that display or incite violence, with many of the videos Reuters have found taken down within days.
After all, they do have policies in place that forbid displays of guns unless they are in “safe environments”, which the video Reuters have found is clearly in violation of.
Though, needless to say, they could have obviously done much better in the content moderation aspect.
TikTok has also released a statement in relation to this discovery, stating that, “We have clear Community Guidelines that state we do not allow content that incites violence or misinformation that causes harm… As it relates to Myanmar, we have been and continue to promptly remove all content that incites violence or spreads misinformation, and are aggressively monitoring to remove any such content that violates our guidelines.”
It seems like the social media company is taking it one step further and is currently recruiting for a Myanmar product policy manager, who would assumingly take charge of the effort to monitor the platform for any policy-violating content in the future.
But hey: for all you know, when you’re reading this, TikTok is banned in Myanmar.
I guess they might resort to…Friendster?
Featured Image: Robert Bociaga Olk Bon / Shutterstock.com (Image is for illustration purpose only)
Here’s a simplified summary of the South Korea martial law that even a 5-year-old would understand:
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