Human Rights and Democracy in Myanmar: Internet Access Blocking and SNS Democratization Movement.

Part 1 - Lead Organizer

Contact Person

Seulah Park

Organization / Affiliation (Please state "Individual" if appropriate)

Korea University GSIS

Designation

Master student

Gender

Female

Economy of Residence

South Korea

Primary Stakeholder Group

Civil Society

Part 2 - Session Proposal

Your proposal is for

Main Conference (Day 1-3)

Session Title

Human Rights and Democracy in Myanmar: Internet Access Blocking and SNS Democratization Movement.

Track

Inclusion Sustainability

Session Format

Panel Discussion

Where do you plan to organize your session?

Virtual / online

Specific Issues for Discussion

Myanmar military coup began on the morning of 1 February 2021 by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. Many people have been killed or arrested in protest due to a military coup. As of June 12, about 862 people were killed by junta and at least 4,800 people were detained. How do citizens use the Internet, communicate, and share problems in this democratic crisis? What role can social media play in the future for human rights in Myanmar? How can Myanmar effectively resist the military? Through this discussion, I would like to demonstrate the democratic functions of the Internet and social media in Myanmar.

Describe the Relevance of Your Session to APrIGF

Inclusion: Social media enables an effective resistance movement. SNS is meaningful in that it can inspire people who are passive in the civil disobedience movement (CDM). SNS has the advantage of being able to participate in CDM for anyone interested in Myanmar across borders. Sustainablity: First, social media allows news providers and the general public to communicate so that fake news can be distinguished. If there is any misinformation in the news information, the public requests correction through comments and publicly distributes unconfirmed information, fake news is reported using the report function in social media. Second, Myanmar people choose and subscribe to reliable news channels to identify fake news on their own. Journalists have been working online to reject and criticize the government's Propaganda. This will allow people to choose and obtain various information in social media, rather than accepting information given through military-controlled media. Third, social media performs as a media outlet and provides space for military-sanctioned journalists. Many media outlets have been revoked permission by the military or banned from publishing newspapers themselves, and social media has provided space for the media to be distributed and readers, providing a window for news generated by journalists to be distributed.

Methodology / Agenda

The relationship between democracy, the Internet and human rights is discussed with the panel. <List of panel expected questions> 1. How did the government press Internet Service Provider (ISP) when mobile Internet access was blocked last April? 2. How does the military control access to social media differ? 3. In what ways do you think Internet access is important to protect human rights? 4. How is the military spreading fake news and how is it identifying and filtering out social media and citizens? 5. How do citizens exchange information about demonstrations? How is the direct and indirect censorship of information going? 6. Why is it essential to use VPN only on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube? What has changed compared to before using VPN (before February coup)? 7. How do you think social media usage should be improved for human rights in Myanmar? 8. What do you think about the Korean government's Internet supply business?

Please provide 3 subject matter tags that best describe your session.

Moderators & Speakers Info (Please complete where possible)

Please explain the rationale for choosing each of the above contributors to the session.

Myatnou(a fictitious name, DVB TV news, Culture and Entertainment Editor), Htet Htet(a fictitious name, irrawaddy news, Journalist), Kinesuae(a fictitious name, NGO), Yadanar(a fictitious name, Yangon University of Foreign Studies) We will listen to Myanmar people's opinions and experiences about blocking Internet access and the social media democratization movement.