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A Research on
MYANMAR AND THE WESTERN PACIFIC TRIANGLE

By Moe Aung
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Media in Burma

Media in Burma

In their ruling wisdom, the military junta in Burma has severely restricted all forms of information gathering and dissemination. To protect themselves from dissention, the SPDC has made publishing any unauthorized materials a jail worthy crime and, as the rest of the world connects through the world wide web, has restricted all access to the internet.

Media Control

During the Parliamentary Democracy period between 1948 and 1962, Burma experienced relative freedom of press and media. Writers and artists enjoyed almost total freedom of expression.

But this ended with the military coup in 1962 led by General Ne Win. During the period of military rule, which exists till today, free expression and the right to criticize government policy were gradually suppressed.

In August 1962, The Printers' and Publishers' Registration Act was promulgated by the military regime. Under this act, all printers and publishers were required to register and to present two copies of all proposed books to the Press Scrutiny Board (PSB).

The Printers' and Publishers' Central Registration Board, in July 1975, issued an 11-point guidelines that basically forbid all writings against the "socialist" state, its policies, and its actions. After the present military regime came into power in 1988, the Press Scrutiny Board, far from being disbanded, was strengthened.

Every writer, every poet, every cartoonist is always ruled by the fear that what he or she has written will not get passed the censor. Apart from newspapers and magazines, the radio and television are also under the tight control of the military government. The New Light of Myanmar is a total propaganda machine for the government. Foreign journalists are rarely allowed entry visas to the country and the military intelligence units of the government constantly monitor those who are admitted. Many authors sit in terrible prison conditions for defying these guidelines.

Internet Control

Burma is one of the most gravely separated from the connecting World Wide Web. Only a few hundred elites are granted full access to the World Wide Web. The email communication is stringently monitored by the government.

Recently, those who understand the importance of participating in the global community have opened a few Internet cafes in the country. These however are carefully scrutinized by the military regime.

The laws have been written to legitimate the government's stance: in 1996 unapproved possession of fax or modem was banned, uses of the internet to "undermine the state, law and order, national unity, national culture or the economy" were deemed punishable, and in January of 2000 all online political material was made subject to government approval. Those who dare to break these laws face up to 15 years in prison.

The country’s sole internet provider, Bagan Cybertech, has been nationalised and is under the control of the Ministry of Telecommunication, Post and Telegraphs. Burma’s independent media that functions outside the country (with their network inside Burma) has been banned inside Burma (Mizzima’s website www.mizzima.com is banned).

Burma's Press Scrutiny and Registration Board was renamed in April 2005 and called "Press Scrutiny and Registration Division." It was put under the Ministry of Information.

Media as counter offensive: junta way of looking at media

Moreover, there are clear signs that military junta wants to use its controlled media inside the country as counter-offensive weapon against some ‘big nations’. Burmese Minister for Information Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan, while attending the inauguration of a journalists’ training program in Rangoon in September 2005 argued that ‘the countries with the strong media arm’ are trying to ‘bully and dominate small nations through the practice of neo-colonialism’. “They are also destroying political, economic, administrative, social and cultural values and spirit with the misuse of media,” the minister claimed while adding that some big nations were trying to introduce their lifestyles and culture to the small nations by force using their strength and power.

Peoples fight against censored regime

Despite all the restrictions and repressive methods imposed by the junta, the peoples in general and media personnel in particular have been trying to overcome the censored regime by various means not only to get to know what is happening in and outside the country but also to communicate with outside world.

Some of them include using proxy servers to read the internet sites that are banned in the country, using freely available email services (especially gmail), listening to overseas Burmese radio services (DVB, RFA, BBC and VOA), receiving the regular publications published by Burma’s independent media outside the country, re-distribution of these publications and CDs by photostating or copying from one person to another, working together with some Burmese media personnel who are outside the country to strengthen information flows and access each other, and participating in some of the rare journalism courses organized inside and outside the country.

The launch of TV broadcasting by the Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) in 2005 has been encouraging for many Burmese inside the country. Moreover, there are also more privately owned Burmese journals and publications coming up than the last two years, even though these publications are bound to follow what the government instructs in their writings.

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