Re:UN: Facebook has turned into a beast in Myanmar
by dragonwriter on Monday April 02, 2018 @04:01PM
(#16738700)
> Imagine an in person rally of 10k people. It would be a huge event both and get huge coverage. Bigger rallies will have even more. So some local media or local government has a chance to counter the falsehoods and make people aware.
In Myanmar, as in most other cases, the government was an active belligerent; they wouldn't have been a check in any case. Genocides are usually conducted by groups that are already dominant in government, media, and society in general, so the kind of social institutions you point to are usually subverted before rallies (physical or virtual) directed imminently at violence occur.
So, it's quite unlikely that those institutions will check in-person rallies; more likely they will be organizing them and spreading their message.
Re:UN: Facebook has turned into a beast in Myanmar
by makomk on Monday April 02, 2018 @05:13PM
(#16739373)
Indeed. One of the most horrific modern genocides, the Rwandan genocide, was organised via radio broadcasts and the state's police and military.
Re:UN: Facebook has turned into a beast in Myanmar
by enitihas on Monday April 02, 2018 @04:08PM
(#16738759)
Okay. But even with the government as part of the gathering the premise remains the same. Even for the government it is vastly easier to use the new communication platforms to spread hate and solidify it's grip on power. I am not saying the government couldn't use posters and banners and newspapers ads, I am just saying the new tools make it vastly easy and provide the government a shield that they didn't know about it.
Imagine an in person rally of 10k people. It would be a huge event both and get huge coverage. Bigger rallies will have even more. So some local media or local government has a chance to counter the falsehoods and make people aware. Governments may even choose to not allow some gatherings in some parts of the world if they fear they will cause a significant law and order issue.
Also, offline gatherings depend on people propagating the issue. This would have previously required people brain washed or dedicated for the cause. Now even normal people can forward anything to all theie WhatsApp contacts and boom, the chain goes on.