Flower Speech Campaign

In 2014, the Panzagar ("flower speech") campaign was launched to counter hate speech in Myanmar (also known as Burma) in response to a rise in anti-Muslim violence. Al Jazeera had reported 250 people killed in the violence, and more than 140,000 displaced and living in camps. The victims were predominantly from the minority Muslim Rohingya population, although some Buddhist monasteries, homes, and businesses were also burned down in revenge attacks. Flowers, the key image of the campaign, symbolize peace in Myanmar.

Although groups such as women and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities have also come under attacks online, the majority of the recent surge in hate speech has been aimed at Myanmar’s Muslim community. According to a report from the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business, almost 90 percent of all online hate speech it reviewed was aimed at the Muslim community.

Flowers, the key image of the campaign, symbolize peace in Myanmar.

The Panzagar campaign was initiated by Nay Phone Latt, youth leader, blogger, and member of regional parliament, who in 2008 had been sentenced to more than 20 years in prison for blogging about the 2007 Saffron Revolution, but who was released in 2012. The campaign aims to promote the responsible use of social media and raise awareness of the serious consequences of online behaviour. The campaign partners with local young graphic designers and Facebook to create a set of positive “digital stickers” that users can share on the social media platform in response to any hate speech they encounter.

“Flower speech” campaign image from the Facebook page of “Support Panzagar: End Hate Speech With Flower Speech.”

These stickers tend to depict, in animé style, a cute young woman with a flower in her mouth, using Buddhist imagery to symbolize a commitment not to use or tolerate speech that can spread hate among people. Within days, thousands of people had liked Panzagar’s Facebook page, and many, including several public figures, have posted photographs of themselves holding flowers in their mouths. This is a courageous act in a country where anti-Muslim sentiment is growing and where there have been fatal clashes — most recently in July 2014 in Mandalay, after a false rumour that a Buddhist woman had been raped by Muslim men surfaced online and went viral on Facebook.

In September 2015, Facebook’s community standards were translated into Burmese for the first time. The standards are sent to users mostly through promoted posts that Facebook hopes will lead users to think twice before they share content that could be deemed inflammatory towards marginalized groups.

The campaign has also gone beyond social media and into rural communities. The team has created a “Travelling Panzagar” project going to different states and regions to speak about the campaign and the importance of countering hate speech with “flower speech.”

Originally published in Beautiful Rising.