The world is watching violent events unfold in Myanmar for many reasons, but perhaps one above all: because it can. The plentiful and unsettling imagery, filmed by participants on the ground and uploaded, is bringing protests and crackdowns to millions of handheld devices almost immediately. It’s a vivid example of a technological truism in an age when capturing images has become utterly democratized. The organizing principle seems to be that if you can glimpse something up close, you’re more likely to pay attention. And in Myanmar, the images from the ground are helping to define how the rest of the planet sees the conflict.
