Restricting Press Freedom, Myanmar Military Bans Mention Of Junta And Regime

Illustration. (Twitter/@SellieSwan)

JAKARTA - For two weeks, the Myanmar military coup continues to get opposition from various elements of society who are staging protests. Several steps were taken by the military, one of which was limiting press freedom.

The Myanmar military decided to dictate to the private and independent media in the Land of the Thousand Pagodas, by prohibiting the mention of the junta and regime together with the word military.

This is in line with the directions and announcements made by the Ministry of Information (MOI), which is managed by the military, to the State Press Council. The military asked the media to report ethically and not to provoke public unrest.

The Ministry of Information said some newspapers, weekly and online media had "incorrectly" used the words regime and junta, referring to the Council for State Administration (SAC), which is constitutionally created by the military.

"So, journalists and the media are informed not to use the regime or the Junta for SAC, which acts in accordance with the provisions of the emergency, and does not trigger public unrest while following the ethics of the media in reporting," said the statement to The Irrawaddy.

Board secretary U Myint Kyaw confirmed to The Irrawaddy that MOI's statement went viral online. He added that council members will have a meeting on the referral tomorrow.

When asked about the order not to use the regime, he said it was their right to freedom of expression for news outlets in terms of choosing words to describe the military rule.

He said the order was perhaps the first step in increasing restrictions on the media.

"I am very concerned, because there may be many restrictions in progress. How worrying if there will be room for independent media in this country," he said.