‘Watermelon suppression’: doxing campaign targets pro-democracy soldiers and police

Navy-linked social media accounts, primarily on Telegram, proceed to dox activists and encourage violence, together with assassinations. Though two of probably the most controversial accounts had been lately faraway from the platform, critics say Telegram continues to be not doing sufficient to control content material.

By ANDREW NACHEMSON and FRONTIER

As extra police and troopers defect from the junta, pro-military social media customers are combating again with a marketing campaign to have safety power members crucial of the army arrested and to discredit these who be part of the resistance. 

A lot of this marketing campaign towards these defectors is going down on messaging app Telegram. Regardless of lastly banning two of probably the most problematic accounts this previous weekend, quite a lot of activists say the corporate continues to be not doing sufficient to manage harmful content material, even in instances the place it places lives in danger. 

Frontier beforehand reported that pro-military personalities had been utilizing the app to focus on enterprise homeowners collaborating in a strike to mark the one-year anniversary of the coup on February 1. A few of these who had been focused in Telegram posts had been arrested and had their properties seized by safety forces. Now these similar customers are turning their consideration to safety forces they deem disloyal. 

As of December, a gaggle encouraging defections stated 2,000 troopers and 6,000 law enforcement officials have left the regime, though not all have gone on to hitch resistance teams. Most who desert declare there are lots of others within the ranks sympathetic to the pro-democracy motion. 

Captain Kaung Thu Win, who served as a camp commander in Sagaing Area’s Monywa Township, instructed Frontier he determined to defect after listening to tales of the army burning and looting villages in neighbouring Magway Area. However he had an issue: his spouse was pregnant.

He waited for 5 months – till his spouse and their new child had been properly sufficient to journey – earlier than they fled. They spent days travelling from Monywa to Kalay, passing via safety checkpoints whereas hiding the ammunition he had introduced with him. Finally, he met up with “revolutionaries” who took him to “liberated territory”. 

“Anybody who’s conscious of the army’s acts of terrorism will be part of CDM,” he stated, referring to the mass strike of civil servants often called the Civil Disobedience Motion.

On December 5, a Fb account that apparently belonged to Police Lieutenant Colonel Zaw Win Ko condemned an assault on peaceable protesters that concerned a army car ramming into the demonstration and killing 5 folks. The publish in contrast the troopers to “savage animals”. The lieutenant colonel was then reportedly arrested on February 8.

Kaung Thu Win warned different troopers and police to not communicate out till after they attain a protected space.

“In case you are nonetheless working beneath the army council, you shouldn’t categorical your emotions… For now, be affected person and preserve your feelings in examine,” he suggested.

Lower than every week after Zaw Win Ko’s arrest, notorious Telegram account Han Nyein Oo started taking credit score for it.

“He was invited to Insein Jail for dinner. He additionally misplaced his pension and was imprisoned,” Han Nyein Oo wrote to his 100,000 subscribers on February 14. “You probably have any remaining watermelons, please carry extra to @Hannyeinoo969.” 

The username seems to comprise a reference to the 969 Motion, an anti-Muslim Buddhist extremist motion related to ultranationalist monk U Wirathu.

The time period “watermelon” refers to members of the safety forces who’re “inexperienced” on the surface and “purple” on the within. The color inexperienced is usually related to the army, whereas purple represents the Nationwide League for Democracy, which the army overthrew in a coup in February final 12 months.

Han Nyein Oo’s account turned inaccessible late on Friday March 11, with a discover saying it 
“can’t be displayed as a result of it violated Telegram’s Phrases of Service”. However secondary accounts stay energetic and are rising quick. One other Han Nyein Oo channel had round 37,000 subscribers on the time the primary account was blocked however has since grown to over 48,000. A brand new channel that was created after the block rapidly garnered 26,000 subscribers.

Daw Wai Phyo Myint, a digital rights activist with Entry Now, stated she was “glad to see” the primary account taken down, however added that it was “too late and too little” given activists had been begging for motion for months. “Taking down only one account shouldn’t be essentially addressing the problems of Telegram we have now been elevating,” she stated.

Many different problematic accounts stay energetic.

One known as Hpayethi Hnein Hnin Yay or “watermelon suppression” in Burmese, posts screenshots of Fb posts by troopers and police criticising the army, demanding that motion be taken towards them. One other account, the title of which Frontier is withholding to restrict its attain, has launched a bounty system providing cost for assassinations. In a single publish, the account supplied K500,000 (round US$280) to anyone who kills a social media consumer that accuses somebody of being dalan, a time period for a army informant. If a goal claims to have truly killed a dalan, the bounty goes as much as K700,000 (round $390). The publish additionally promised cost if the goal is significantly injured. Frontier has not confirmed any precise assassinations associated to this marketing campaign. Each channels remained accessible as of publication.

In one other incident, a Fb consumer recognized a author and activist from a army household as a “watermelon”. The publish accused the author of beginning a latest marketing campaign to assassinate air power officers, an effort by resistance teams to restrict the junta’s means to conduct air strikes, which give the army a significant benefit over resistance teams and have additionally resulted in widespread civilian casualties. The publish shared the author’s tackle in Yangon and the title of the city the place he’s supposedly hiding in Thailand. Though the publish was taken down from Fb, it was shared by quite a lot of pro-military Telegram customers the place it stays accessible.

Not sufficient moderation

Even supposing Telegram customers are seemingly inciting violence, directing arrests and inspiring assassinations, Telegram has taken solely restricted motion. The corporate didn’t reply to a number of requests for remark from Frontier, together with for this story.

Digital activists have additionally attempted to contact Telegram, warning in a letter that its platform was getting used to “trigger profound hurt” with “very actual penalties”. 

“They don’t reply to any of our communications,” stated Wai Phyo Myint with Entry Now, one of many teams that wrote the letter to Telegram.

“They should have channels the place they have interaction with civil society and activists and journalists,” stated her colleague, Ms Dhevy Sivaprakasam. Sivaprakasam identified that Fb made comparable errors, however after being implicated within the violent crackdown towards the Rohingya in 2017, has been far more proactive in addressing harmful content material.

Wai Phyo Myint stated it has been extra of “a problem to discover a stress level” on Telegram, given it’s primarily based in Dubai, in contrast to Fb, which is headquartered in america. 

“Telegram channels concentrating on pro-democracy supporters clearly intend to incite violence and needs to be eliminated for violating the platform’s phrases of service,” stated a Western diplomat primarily based in Yangon who spoke on situation of anonymity.

Telegram was based in 2013 by brothers Pavel and Nikolai Durov, who left Russia nation in 2014 citing authorities stress. Telegram has lengthy resisted moderating content material on its platform as a result of free speech issues. However there are indicators the corporate is beginning to cave to stress.

In February, Telegram took down 64 channels in Germany accused of spreading anti-Semitism and COVID-19 disinformation, after the federal government threatened to ban the platform. Telegram additionally banned Russian state media accounts following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Now, it has seemingly begun to reply to stress in Myanmar as properly.

Telegram additionally seems to have totally different insurance policies for merchandise utilizing totally different working techniques, possible because of the insurance policies of those corporations. A Frontier reporter with an iPhone was unable to entry one Han Nyein Oo web page which had unfold revenge porn concentrating on feminine pro-democracy activists. A discover says the channel “can’t be displayed” as a result of it “unfold pornographic content material”, one thing Apple has lengthy labored to maintain out of its App Retailer. However a reporter with one other model of smartphone may nonetheless see it. Apple didn’t reply to a request for remark.

“We had discussions on whether or not we should always method Google or Apple to request whether or not to take away Telegram from their app shops, however on the finish, what we would like is to nonetheless have Telegram as a platform as a result of the motion is counting on it as properly,” stated Wai Phyo Myint.

Telegram can be utilized by journalists and activists to speak extra securely. “We solely need Telegram to deal with these problematic contents and ban unhealthy actors,” she stated.

Sivaprakasam stated additionally they must watch out to not inadvertently get anti-military Folks’s Defence Forces and different resistance teams banned. Whereas most in Myanmar see these teams as appearing in self-defence, a blanket ban on violence may impression them as properly.

“This is one thing we foresee as a problem,” she stated.

A coordinated marketing campaign

There may be mounting proof that the Telegram accounts are a part of a coordinated marketing campaign and are straight linked to the army and its establishments.

On the morning of February 7, the now-banned Han Nyein Oo account posted about police Main Tin Min Tun, who had defected in February of final 12 months, complaining that the police officer remained at liberty. Based on native media, police in riot gear stormed Tin Min Tun’s dwelling in Yangon’s North Okkalapa Township later that very same day and seized his property (he was not dwelling on the time of the raid).

Some Telegram channels additionally present which admin made a selected publish, giving perception into the connections between totally different channels. For instance, one publish by Myanmar Onerous Discuss was written by an admin named Oakker Aung. The identical username can be listed as an admin for one in every of Han Nyein Oo’s pages. Myanmar Onerous Discuss is a political commentary operation that revolves round an inflammatory discuss present and social media posts, usually internet hosting extremist and controversial figures. Hardline nationalist Maung Myint, a candidate for the army proxy Union Solidarity and Improvement Occasion (USDP), was a daily visitor within the lead-up to the 2020 election.

Myanmar Onerous Discuss was banned from Fb following a Frontier exposé that confirmed the web page was spreading disinformation and anti-Muslim hate speech. The community has since resurfaced on Telegram, the place it has amassed practically 19,000 followers – in August of final 12 months, it had simply 6,000 subscribers. Whereas its development has been substantial, it nonetheless doesn’t evaluate to Fb, the place it amassed 240,000 followers in round 11 months earlier than being shut down.

Thazin Oo was one other account that participated within the campaigns to arrest enterprise homeowners and troopers, which was additionally lately deleted, however a brand new channel has already amassed greater than 11,000 subscribers.

Whereas most pro-military channels cover their admins, Thazin Oo’s channel didn’t. A quantity of her posts had been written by admins HNO – a reputation repeatedly utilized by Han Nyein Oo, together with for one in every of his accounts – and Kyaw Swar, one other distinguished pro-military Telegram consumer with round 53,000 subscribers on the messaging app. In a publish on March 9, Kyaw Swar focused a distinguished activist who lately criticised Telegram, posting her supposed tackle in Yangon. That account stays accessible.

Thazin Oo has direct connections to the junta and the proxy USDP. She often campaigned for the USDP earlier than the 2020 election, even showing in a video posted by one of many celebration’s verified Fb pages days earlier than the election. The identical web page would go on to unfold disinformation claiming that the 2020 election was undermined by huge voter fraud – an allegation for which no credible proof has been produced, however that was used as a pretext for the coup.

Because the coup, Thazin Oo has appeared as a presenter for the army’s official tv channel, Myawady TV, in addition to for Myanmar Onerous Discuss and a pro-military tabloid known as Thuriya Nay Wun (recognized in English as Solar Rays). 

Thuriya Nay Wun is run by journalist Moe Hein, who wasn’t at all times often called a army sympathiser. In 2013, he angered the USDP authorities and businessman Tay Za by writing an article crucial of army cronies, calling for them to “leap into the Andaman Sea”. The Irrawaddy reported in 2014 that he was an American citizen and was banned from returning to Myanmar on the time.

However at this time, Moe Hein shares a gentle stream of pro-military propaganda on Telegram, and in addition seems repeatedly on Myawady TV. He was even amongst an inventory of channels that Han Nyein Oo urged his followers to additionally subscribe to.

Spreading slander

Han Nyein Oo’s record additionally included Telegram customers BaNyunt and Sergeant Phoe Si. Each have focused so-called “watermelons” and are additionally collaborating in one other marketing campaign to undermine defecting troopers. They and different social media customers are spreading unsubstantiated rumours about defecting troopers, seemingly in an try to discredit their reputations or declare they had been kicked out of the army relatively than having abandoned. The posts usually included homophobic or misogynistic claims about their sexual behaviour.

In a single publish, a Fb consumer claimed {that a} feminine soldier who defected had slept along with her married superior officer whereas his spouse was pregnant.

On February 7, one other pro-military consumer wrote {that a} defecting soldier “began his service solely yesterday and pretends to know rather a lot concerning the Tatmadaw”. The publish claimed the soldier was a “trainee” and was punished for sneaking out with out permission. He accused him of being a gambler, drunk and womaniser who was in debt. However different defecting troopers instructed Frontier the person in query was a lieutenant, an officer place that usually takes years of service to realize. 

Kaung Thu Win, the captain who defected, was additionally focused. In a publish on January 10, a Fb consumer claimed he was a gay drug consumer. The Fb consumer solely has 3,300 pals, and the publish solely obtained 180 reactions. However that very same day, it was additionally shared by Sergeant Phoe Si and BaNyunt on Telegram, the place they’ve over 27,000 and over 23,000 subscribers respectively. Each channels stay accessible on Telegram.

“As soon as you permit the military, you’ll be attacked on-line… I already knew prematurely,” Kaung Thu Win instructed Frontier, including that he and his spouse “are nonetheless laughing” on the slander. 

Kaung Thu Win stated the army spreads disinformation to attempt to “create a misunderstanding” between defecting troopers and the folks. He claimed there’s a particular taskforce in Nay Pyi Taw devoted to psychological warfare known as the Tatmadaw Know-how and Info Power. Frontier couldn’t independently confirm this declare, however in 2018 the New York Occasions reported that lots of of army personnel had been concerned in anti-Rohingya social media campaigns. That article additionally stated members of the group had been primarily based in army compounds in Nay Pyi Taw.

Narratives discrediting defectors have additionally been unfold in state media. The junta’s info minister lately instructed reporters that tales of defecting troopers are “exaggerated”. He additionally known as them “cowards who didn’t dare to confess their responsible strikes in breaking the legislation”.

Kaung Thu Win stated it has additionally lengthy been a army coverage to watch the social media accounts of troopers. 

“Earlier than the coup, troopers and their youngsters needed to give their accounts to the military. You need to connect your Fb title and private code quantity … All of our superiors have to present it to their superiors,” he defined. Kaung Thu Win stated that these talking out or leaking info ought to use a brand new account on a unique cellphone.

Kaung Thu Win additionally known as for Telegram to take extra motion to manage harmful content material. 

“I hope this firm doesn’t need to harm anybody in any nation. They created Telegram so that individuals may use it safely. However now that individuals in Burma are struggling due to Telegram’s lack of management, they need to rethink,” he stated. 

Wai Phyo Myint with Entry Now stated the technique appears to be to encourage concern throughout the army system and inside society at massive. She stated at first, the Telegram channels had been largely concentrating on high-profile politicians and activists, however they’re more and more concentrating on common folks against the army. This contains posting their dwelling addresses and even the names of their youngsters.

Wai Phyo Myint stated many in Myanmar are actually always scanning these lists, which additionally takes a psychological well being toll.

“That is each day, these posts. We’ve to go and repeatedly examine these channels simply to see whether or not we or anybody we all know are on this record,” she stated.