Conflict studies experts Prof. Anthony Ware, Prof. Monique Skidmore und Prof. Costas Laoutides are studying the civil conflicts in Myanmar in order to try and understand the use and impact of new technologies in the struggle between a military state with techno-totalitarian ambitions and a resistance movement that takes the form of a labyrinth of newly founded and old, armed organizations. The researchers have set out to find answers to the following questions: In what way do new technologies enable resistance and the ability to withstand authoritarian control structures in Myanmar? Because it is unclear both who will gain the upper hand online in this evolving series of conflicts and on what scale the Internet influences physical results.

Through a combination of interviews and surveys within as representative a sample as possible, the researchers use discourse-analytical methods to assess how social media are used by democratic forces and how they contribute toward creating a rival army that is controlled by the newly formed National Unity government in exile. Furthermore, they seek to document how the junta tries to establish a techno-totalitarian state. In conclusion, they analyse the algorithms used by social and artificial intelligence to communicate and control such as are currently being deployed in both Myanmar and in the political diaspora in order to quantify the probabilities of success of the different political visions and the related technological infrastructure.

The insights thus gained are intended to identify the scope for action by politicians and civil society alike and will be published in specialist journals.