Asia

Burma (Myanmar)

{This graph represents scores that have been modified by CIMA so that higher scores indicate a better media situation. It is intended to show trends over time; each index measures significantly different factors of press freedom. To see an explanation for how this graph was created, click here.}
 

While the Burmese military junta is interested in expanding and exploiting information and communication technologies (ICTs) for business and propaganda purposes, it makes aggressive attempts to regulate access to the internet and digital media, control content, and punish citizens for any online activity that is seen as detrimental to regime security.

The government uses a wide range of means to restrict internet freedom, including legal and regulatory barriers, infrastructural and technical constraints, and coercive measures such as intimidation and lengthy prison sentences. Although the authorities lack the capacity to pervasively enforce all restrictions, the impact of sporadic implementation and the ensuing chilling effect is profound.

Read more on Freedom House's site...

Reporters Without Borders Description:

The army which has been in power since 1962 uses repression and propaganda to gag the pro-democracy movement and civil society, of which journalists are often in the vanguard. Burma is a paradise for censors, one of the very few countries where all publications are subjected to prior censorship. After China, it is the world’s largest prison for journalists and bloggers.

The promise by the authorities to hold elections in 2010 – the first since those won by the party of Aung San Suu Kyi in 1990 - has not been accompanied by any letup in repression of dissidents and privately owned media.

The generalissimo Than Shwe heads special police responsible for the repression. They particularly go after owners of video cameras accused of sending images abroad of the crackdown on the 2007 monks’ demonstration, as well as those that recorded government negligence during the Nargis hurricane in 2008. The work of clandestine reporters of the Democratic Voice of Burma, revealed in the film Burma VJ, and other exiled Burmese media, remains very dangerous. The regime has still not made it clear how these media and the foreign press will be able to cover the forthcoming elections.

Read more on RSF’s site…

After nearly five decades of uninterrupted military rule, Burma moved toward an uncertain new era in November when it staged national elections and freed the pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The new parliament, although dominated by the military junta's chosen candidates, was the first civilian government in the country since 1962. Military leaders, notorious for their international isolation, sought international legitimacy through the election. "But the vote was so rigged, it had the opposite effect," The Washington Post noted in an editorial. "Rules were written so that, no matter how people voted, the military would retain control; but even so, the regime could not resist Election Day intimidation and ballot-box stuffing."

CPJ research showed that military authorities censored and controlled election-related news, suspended local-language publications, targeted Internet sites, and jailed exile-run news services' undercover reporters. In October, the government-controlled Union Election Commission announced that it would not allow foreign journalists into the country to cover the elections.

Read more on CPJ’s site...

Visit IFEX’s Site for Recent News on Media in this Country