Wielding Technology Against Dangerous Speech in Burma Gains a Following
Frontlines - USAID
In January, USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives supported the United States Institute of Peace, Myanmar ICT for Development Organization (MIDO) and Phandeeyar, a Burmese technology innovation lab, to host the country’s first, three-day PeaceTech Exchange in the country’s commercial capital, Rangoon.
PeaceTech brought together more than 120 civil society leaders from across Burma with 25 local and international technologists with the aim of developing innovative ways to address dangerous speech. Given the nature of dangerous speech in Burma, key religious figures also attended. Seventy percent of participants came from outside Rangoon, including the more remote ethnic areas of Rakhine, Kachin, Shan and Chin states.