What's Social Media Got To Do With It?

Now that he’s arrived in Bangladesh, Maung finds himself stuck in an in-between. He’s safe from the violence he faced in his home state of Rakhine, Myanmar, but there are restrictions on his freedom of movement, limiting his education and leaving him to grapple with the history that brought his community to the world’s largest refugee camp.  

In this episode, host Ngofeen Mputubwele traces this history. Within the story of ethnic cleansing and apartheid enacted upon the ethnic Rohingya community, other big themes rise up. Witnesses and experts recount the role that social media played in Maung’s trajectory, and point to other communities facing this crisis across the globe.  

Maung Sawyeddollah: Agent of Change, Rohingya Muslim 

Matt Schissler: Lecturer in history and anthropology at the University of Melbourne 

Htaike Htaike Aung: Director of the Myanmar Internet Project 

Kaamil Ahmed: Journalist for The Guardian; author of "I Feel No Peace" 

Shayna Bauchner: Researcher, Asia Division at Human Rights Watch  

Maria Ressa: Nobel Peace Prize laureate; co-founder and CEO of Rappler