Thread by @DavBrenner

Great thread by @ZweLwinMyanmar: urging people not to panic over fake news about Chinese soldiers in #Myanmar, to consider evidence carefully & to question how fake news only help the Tatmadaw. In his words: "Keep calm & analyse!"

Some more thoughts: 1/8
#WhatsHappeningInMyanmar

https://twitter.com/ZweLwinMyanmar/status/1362152850474881034

.@ZweLwinMyanmar makes excellent points about photos being used out of context & the lacking credibility of Burmese police shouting in Chinese. Please read his thread.

I could not agree more, even though we all appreciate how frightening the situation is.

2/8

I also doubt the authenticity of this viral video in which one can hear Burmese police shouting 1, 2, 3 in Chinese. The sound bits seems superimposed on the original sound that continues underneath. This is the age of fake news and anyone with a computer can do this easily. 3/8

It didn't help that @mrattkthu shared the video with his 81k followers. Note: he initially shared for the video content & didn't seem to notice the sound bits. Also he clarified that the Chinese language doesn't seem credible. But this is how fake news spread on social media 4/8

Also worrying that the horrendous tweet by a foreign observer alleging a Chinese invasion was shared 2.9k times by now: welcome to the world of fake news. Great job in stoking misinformation, panic & ultimately aiding the Tatmadaw! (mentioned elsewhere, won't quote anymore) 5/8

Last thoughts: When people comment that some Tatmadaw soldiers don't speak Burmese or don’t look Burmese: Please remembers that Myanmar is a land of great ethnic diversity and 100+ languages. Not everyone looks and speaks like Bamar people. 6/8

I met many people in Myanmar who cannot speak Burmese well, amongst them low-ranking Tatmadaw soldiers forcibly recruited from poor ethnic minority backgrounds at young age, stationed at opposite sides of the country. It's how divide & rule has worked since the British Empire 7/8

Finally, China will certainly remain to have a supportive relationship with whoever is in power in Myanmar & it surely does not restrict its exports seafood. But if we argue that China is “behind the coup” we let Min Aung Hlaing and his generals off the hook way to easily. 8/8