Myanmar's
Ministry of Transport and Communication has directed four major
telecommunication service providers to block websites supposedly in the name of
combatting disinformation amid the government's campaign to contain the spread
of COVID-19. On March 30, 2020, telecom company Telenor confirmed that
it has complied with the order by blocking a total of 221 websites.
Although
it was not revealed which websites are covered by the order, many groups noted that
blocked websites included adult entertainment pages, unspecified alleged “fake news”
sites, but also websites of registered ethnic media agencies.
A
coalition of 250 Myanmar civil society organizations responded by
releasing a statement decrying
the government's actions as unlawful and contrary to international standards to
protect the freedom of speech. Burma News International, a coalition of ethnic
media groups, also released a statement asking the
ruling National League for Democracy to immediately unblock the legally
registered ethnic media websites. Media groups also noted that the government
has been consistent in using the notorious Telecommunications Law
to clamp down on free speech.
Internet shutdown and attacks on free speech
Among
many that are blocked, two notable news media included Narinjara and
Development Media Group (DMG), both of which are based in Rakhine State where
the internet has been restricted over
the past nine months already in areas where there are armed conflicts between
the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army,
the Rakhine ethnic armed group.
A
statement issued by
several civil society groups described the blocking of news websites and the
continuing internet restriction in the region as an oppressive measure which
deprives people of their right to access information:
We further note with
concern that the blocking of the websites, which include independent media
websites from Rakhine state, comes in parallel to a 9-month long internet
shutdown affecting 9 townships in Rakhine and Chin States, compounding
restrictions on the right to information and freedom of expression of the
population in these areas. […] blocking websites of the news agencies working
in these areas is an authoritarian-like violation of the right to the access to
information, a basic right crucial to media freedom, democratic transformation,
and regions’ development.
Activists
and human rights groups said that
the government is using the coronavirus crisis to hide the human rights abuses and
atrocities committed by
state forces in Rakhine state. They are also worried that free speech is being
undermined in the name of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic:
We are concerned that
the government is taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to censor
legitimate information and curtail freedom of expression.
On
Facebook, Nyi Khine Thwee,
a Rakhine artist published these cartoons to depict the human rights abuses in
Rakhine state amid the COVID-19 crisis:
As of April 3, 2020,
the Myanmar Ministry
of Health and Sport reported that the country has a total of 20
COVID-19 patients.
On
March 30, the editor of the Voice of Myanmar website, Nay Myo Lin, was arrested and
charged for interviewing a representative from the Arakan Army,
which has been declared as
a terrorist organization a few days earlier.
Reporters
Without Borders (RSF) urged authorities
to drop the case
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