There is a high chance that the thousands of people who are being notified and influenced by the plight of the Rohingya are not going through the right channels to know what is happening.
by Safen Roy
In the United Nation's World Court, Aung San Suu Kyi has pleaded to dismiss genocide claims against Myanmar and has asked for Myanmar's own court-martial system to deal with human rights abuses. Officials in Myanmar are constructing a narrative where they say the situation is an internal conflict. On the other hand, communities on Facebook and social media try to document another narrative of the events in the former Rohingya villages. In the report brought in the World court, there are an estimated 392 villages that have been burnt destroyed and also allegations of organized sexual violence and rape. Human rights activists and even the Rohingya community are documenting this other narrative.
Facebook has now long served to influence elections, student movements, and autocracies of particular governments and is now used by many refugee communities. Even different refugee diaspora to document and seek help for the torture they have been put through. So what does it mean when communities emerge like this and have a strong social media presence and where does that leave the locals?
According to the UN Refugee Agency, there are about 723,000 Rohingya who have fled to Bangladesh. A large proportion of the Rohingya community use smartphones. During a recent visit to the Rohingya camps in Kutupalong, Ukhia there were as many phones inside the small mud hut which served as a mobile repair shop as a regular shop in Bashundhara City market in Dhaka. Almost all of them were smartphones with big screens; which means the refugee community is actively using the devices to be well connected to each other and can access Social Media and news services that cater to them.
Facebook's top result for Rohingya is Rohingya Vision TV (184k Likes), a news service showing the political crisis of the Rohingya community, to mentions in different international forums and also documenting open letters. Just like their Facebook Page, their website is very up to date and available in two languages one the language of the Rohingya which can also be understood a little by people in Chittagong and the other version written in English. But who funds this satellite television and their website? Other than a donation box in their website and contact emails, there is little clue where it is stationed and who funds the service
Facebook is full of groups to help the Rohingya community and also understand them better. The UN and OXFAM Bangladesh pages are filled with posts with how much the agencies helping them and visits by ambassadors and other high officials. A simple skim through the comments, and it seems everyone is waiting for something to happen, no one really knows where the ordeal is going. On one hand, comments are positive with the development in the repatriation of the Rohingya community while the other extreme thinks it is a waste of human resources and the act of multitudinous business scheme by Human Rights organizations.
There is a high chance that the thousands of people who are being notified and influenced by the plight of the Rohingya are not going through the right channels to know what is happening. While Facebook pages and groups might start off with providing free information and even entertainment, there is also a chance that they might diverge from that and provide Fake News which can further cause high levels of distrust and anger between the refugees and locals. Take for example what happened with Whatsapp in India where five men were killed in Maharashtra (a northern state near the capital, Delhi), allegedly organ supplies. A video was being circulated on WhatsApp warning about the appearance of organ harvesters. Among the fake videos, one was showing children who died from a nerve-gas attack in Syria. There are numerous other similar incidents like this shows how bizarre and influential fake news can be and create such dire situations.
A rally was held by the Rohingya people on 25th August 2019 and images of large masses are filled all over the internet. Even if the mobile network was cut off later, it really doesn't matter as they might use the mobile network of Myanmar. Next time much might be harder next time to control Rallies arranged by the Rohingya refugees and if they are aggravated to act in defiance of Bangladesh which worries all citizens of Bangladesh.
Of the 723k refugees in Bangladesh, there is a large proportion of people who unknowingly pass information and posts that would be deemed clickbait to other more educated audiences. Even in the US, there is a high level of Fake news and all of us who have gone through Facebook before elections know how some Pages and groups rely on posts, memes, and videos to divide people. Even if one page is blocked, another pops up and relying on blocking Facebook altogether is another mistake. The problem with fake news is that it is easy to believe but still hard to fact check.
There is never a balance of fake and authentic news on anyone newsfeed and it is a particular thing to worry about when living in such fragile conditions. Fake news content creators will go out of their way to post, troll and divide people and though we have not seen that yet, all communities must be vigilant and not prone to share and believe everything they see on any Facebook page or social media post.
But even though there is the tension of Fake News in Facebook Pages and groups there is certainly a hat off to the people who have toiled every day to provide authentic news of the refugees. There are hard-working individuals who believe in the betterment of humanity and they seek to help the refugee community by documenting their development be it in Bangladesh or any part of the world. Sometimes they take Facebook as a medium to show photographs of the village, towns, and life of the refugee community. We must rely on our better judgment not to mix the two groups, one who is actually trying to help the refugee community and while the other trying to divide people.
Safen Roy is an academic in Asian Relations. Email: safenroy@gmail.com
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