“The UN Shouldn’t Even Exist Anymore” Social Media Comments Post Myanmar Earthquake

• Twenty posts on aid delivery in the aftermath of the 28 March 2025 earthquake reached an estimated 490K  users and generated 208 comments. Posts highlighted WASH recovery, school reconstruction, livelihood and cash support. The tone was positive and forward-looking, centred on resilience, partnership, and continuity of assistance. 68% of comments were positive towards the aid sector, while a small number included direct requests for help, showing users’ awareness of geographic or sectoral gaps in aid delivery.
• Two edited media posts on the 23 and 28 September earthquakes near Pyin Oo Lwin and Yedashe drew 303 comments, none of which mentioned aid directly. Instead, users focused on media credibility, accusing outlets of reusing old photos from the March earthquake and employing clickbait tactics. A small number used the tremors metaphorically to criticise corruption and state failure. These discussions were largely non-violent and political in tone, with frustration directed at information reliability rather than aid actors.
• Eight posts on refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) generated 371 comments. Coverage centred on restricted humanitarian access, worsening displacement, and chronic underfunding. The comment space was highly polarised: 16% of comments were negative towards aid actors, 15% criticised armed groups or the junta, and nearly half debated resettlement and return. Strong anti-Rohingya and anti-Muslim rhetoric was widespread, including open hate speech and dehumanising language. A smaller number of comments questioned the neutrality of UN agencies or framed them as complicit with the junta.
• Three media posts covering UNICEF’s statement (12–13 September) condemning the airstrike on a boarding school in Kyauktaw Township, Rakhine State, which killed at least 19 students, generated 521 comments, of which 59% were negative towards UNICEF or the wider aid sector. Commenters dismissed the statement as repetitive or performative, criticised UNICEF’s neutrality, or denied that those killed were students, calling the site a military “training school.” This denial narrative reframed the attack as legitimate and illustrates the erosion of civilian distinction in online discourse.
• Across the dataset of 1,871 comments, 490 (26%) were negative towards the aid sector—the highest proportion recorded since monitoring began in May 2025. Previous cycles ranged from 3% to 7% negative engagement, with a brief decline below 1% in September, suggesting a renewed concentration of anti-aid discourse in October. The shift appears linked to the greater circulation of UN and organisation-authored posts through embassy and media accounts, as well as a broader query scope that captured more content related to protection and contested incidents.
• Negative comments clustered around familiar themes: claims of complicity or bias, accusations of diversion or resale, and identity-based gatekeeping of who “deserves” aid. In parallel, many comments still contained specific requests for food, medicine, or shelter, indicating that criticism and humanitarian need coexist. Overall, the findings point to an increasingly polarised environment, where trust in aid depends less on values-based messaging and more on posts which visibly show aid delivery.

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