Representation of the Rohingya People in Social Media

Abstract

More than a million Rohingya refugees are currently living in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, making the Rohingya crisis one of the most severe humanitarian emergencies of the twenty-first century (UNHCR, 2025). For decades, the Rohingya, a predominantly Muslim ethnic group from Rakhine State in Myanmar, have faced systematic persecution, statelessness, and the denial of their citizenship rights. The situation escalated in August 2017 when military actions forced over 700,000 Rohingya to flee across the border into Bangladesh, resulting in a mass migration (UNHCR, 2021). Driven by humanitarian sympathy and religious solidarity, the host communities in Bangladesh initially welcomed the Rohingya with exceptional hospitality. However, as the crisis continued without any prospects for repatriation, public perceptions began to change. Empathy and solidarity were increasingly replaced by resentment, xenophobia, and a securitized view of refugees as threats and burdens. Conflicting narratives about Rohingya identity are constantly produced, shared, and discussed in the media, particularly on social media platforms, where the shift in public opinion is clearly evident. These changing attitudes do not just happen; media portrayal plays a crucial role in shaping the public’s understanding of refugee communities. It has a significant impact on how host societies and policymakers see, discuss, and treat displaced populations. In today’s digital age, social media has emerged as a powerful tool for shaping refugee identities and influencing public opinion. However, there is still a significant lack of thorough examination regarding how these online platforms represent displaced individuals. This study aims to investigate the public perceptions of the Rohingya people and how they are portrayed on social media. This qualitative study explores the representation of Rohingya refugees on social media platforms in Bangladesh between August 2017 and May 2023. It examines how various stakeholders perceive this stateless community and investigates how these portrayals shape public perceptions and influence policy responses. This study uses Stuart Hall's Representation Theory (1997) and Herbert Kelman's Social Influence Theory (1958) to analyze the content and themes of 348 social media posts and xx over 33,000 user comments. The data was collected from a variety of sources, including mainstream media outlets such as Prothom Alo and Shomoy TV, humanitarian organizations such as UNHCR Bangladesh, government agencies such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Rohingya-led platforms, including the Rohingya Youth Association and activist Mr. Aman Ullah. To identify the peak times for public conversation, data collection focused on seven significant events throughout the crisis. Additionally, to connect digital findings with real-life perspectives and gain a comprehensive understanding of both online narratives and lived experiences, twenty-two in-depth interviews were conducted with journalists, local community members, and Rohingya refugees. The analysis reveals significant variations in representation between platforms and stakeholder groups. Rohingyas were mostly shown in mainstream media as victims of persecution, highlighting their fragility, humanitarian distress, and need for foreign aid. In contrast, government platforms such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs increasingly framed the community as an economic burden and a security concern, reflecting Bangladesh's diplomatic stance on temporary protection and repatriation priorities. However, Rohingya-led platforms, such as the Rohingya Youth Association, actively resisted externally imposed victim identities, instead constructing counter-narratives that highlighted agency, resilience, cultural preservation, educational achievement, and community leadership. Alongside these differing institutional representations, public discourse experienced a significant transformation. Thematic analysis of user comments uncovered a concerning shift in public discourse over time. Initially, following the 2017 exodus, there were expressions of religious solidarity and humanitarian sympathy. However, in the years that followed, the conversation increasingly adopted a xenophobic, burden-focused, and security-oriented framing. This change was especially evident during contentious policy moments, such as the Bhasan Char relocation initiative. The study found a clear gap between online humanitarian narratives and local communities' perceptions. Most interviewed members of host communities expressed deep concerns about economic strain, environmental degradation, and the ongoing issue of prolonged displacement, despite the prevalence of extensive online compassion campaigns. xxi Terms like "Rohingya," "FDMN" (Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals), "refugee," and "citizens of Rakhine" have been used strategically by various actors to promote conflicting political agendas related to rights, belonging, and policy legitimacy. This has made identity construction a highly contested area. Rather than providing neutral descriptions, the deliberate choice of identity labels by different stakeholders reflects institutional goals and underlying power dynamics. Particularly, counter-narratives from Rohingya-led platforms demonstrate that refugees can effectively challenge negative portrayals and engage audiences by emphasizing their dignity, agency, and self-determination when they control their own representation. This research contributes to refugee studies, digital discourse analysis, and humanitarian communication by demonstrating that social media representations actively construct, rather than neutrally reflect, refugee identities. These constructed meanings serve specific institutional agendas and carry profound implications for integration outcomes, host-refugee relations, humanitarian communication strategies, and policy development in contemporary displacement crises. The findings highlight the urgent need for more inclusive representational practices that amplify refugee voices and address the structural conditions underlying both digital hostility and material deprivation.