Myanmar regime intensifies Facebook propaganda campaign in wake of school airstrike

Changes to Facebook’s fact-checking and content moderation policies have made it easier for Myanmar’s regime to flood the platform with misinformation and propaganda, according to junta opponents and digital rights activists. The shift has been especially noticeable over the past week, they say, as pro-regime accounts have proliferated to deflect blame for a deadly airstrike that killed 22 schoolchildren and two teachers in Sagaing Region’s Depayin Township on Monday. “The number of comments from fake accounts has increased significantly. When you look at these comments, you find that the profiles are locked. The narratives they write don’t differ much from one another. Patterns like these have become quite noticeable,” said Nay Phone Latt, a prominent blogger who now serves in the National Unity Government as spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office. He noted that many of the comments appear on the Facebook pages of domestic news sites and popular celebrities, casting doubt on reports of the regime’s mass killing of civilians in areas under resistance control. “Although it’s said to have been bombed from the air, there are no large craters. It could have been an explosion of weapons and ammunition [inside the school],” reads one widely circulated comment that aims to reinforce junta claims that resistance forces are using schools and other public buildings to store weapons. According to Nay Phone Latt, the regime has invested large amounts of money and manpower to spread its propaganda on Facebook, which he said has become an indispensable part of its psychological warfare efforts. Like previous regimes, the one now in power has state-owned broadcasters like Myawaddy TV and MRTV at its disposal to push its own version of the facts about the ongoing conflict for control of the country. Its supporters have also made extensive use of Telegram, a platform favoured internationally by far-right groups for its permissive policies on extremist content. But none of these can compete with Facebook as a vector for spreading its message. “Previously, we only saw content from popular Telegram channels. Now we’re seeing individuals who aren’t pro-junta celebrities or propaganda spreaders sharing similar messages [on Facebook],” said Wai Phyo Myint, Asia-Pacific analyst at the digital rights organisation Access Now. In a country where the flow of information is already highly restricted, the growing number of pro-regime voices—most of them specifically created to spread disinformation—on the most trusted social media platform can have a major impact, she said. Until earlier this year, Facebook banned accounts affiliated with the regime, shutting them down if most of their shared posts supported junta actions. The removal of this policy has already significantly eroded people’s ability to know what to trust, said Wai Phyo Myint. “It’s particularly noticeable in this airstrike case. Many people, even those close to us, are questioning whether the airstrike actually happened, whether these children really died. These doubts are spreading not just from the army side but even among those supporting the [anti-junta] public movement,” she said. “This is partly due to information disruption, but also because the army’s propaganda has become more powerful, creating misconceptions and doubt in people’s minds.”

Myanmar regime intensifies Facebook propaganda campaign in wake of school airstrike

The junta’s efforts to spread disinformation have been facilitated by the platform’s new policy of limiting content moderation, say digital rights activists

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