The Leaderboard: Nay Phone Latt

The Leaderboard profiles the people behind the policies of the Asia-Pacific.Who is he?

Nay Phone Latt is a Myanmar poet, blogger, and activist best known for his role in helping bring the 2007 monk-led Saffron Revolution and subsequent government crackdown to international attention. In 2008, he was arrested and sentenced to 20 years in jail under the Electronics Act for allegedly creating public alarm and possessing banned videos. He received a presidential pardon and was released in January 2012.

Since his release, Nay Phone Latt has published numerous books, worked on furthering information technology education in Myanmar, and continued his political involvement through social media. As early as 2012, he became active on the Rohingya issue and has been a rare moderate voice speaking out against the surging anti-Muslim sentiment throughout Myanmar.

Why is he in the news?

Nay Phone Latt recently helped organize the launch of the panzagar, or “flower speech,” movement that seeks to counter hate speech against Muslims, especially online. Some 200 people kick-started the campaign on April 4 by distributing fliers and posters on the streets of Yangon urging citizens to engage in civil discourse and report hate speech they see on social media. Although only an estimated 700,000 Myanmar citizens are online, social media’s growing popularity has on several occasions allowed vitriolic statements and rumors to spread quickly.

What can we expect from him?

Nay Phone Latt’s history of political involvement means he will not cease his anti-hate speech efforts, even at the risk of public censure or backlash from extremists. His panzagar movement will offer a small but important counter-narrative to more extreme Buddhist-nationalist voices dominating Myanmar’s social media environment.

Photo of monks in Saffron Revolution courtesy Jijis’ flickr photostream, used under a creative commons license.
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