ZAFRA, Ray Allen N.

Media and Information in Myanmar

World void of borders, such is the reality made possible by the technological
instruments of the contemporary era. Not in the literal notion that an individual
possesses the unrestrained liberty to travel to any corner of the world nor are there no
national territorial boundaries that ordain one’s citizenship, but rather in the
metaphorical concept that man’s impassioned sentiments, principles and ideas
transcend the tangible lines of partition that separate. Modern marvels facilitate the flow
of information, akin to the vital blood vessel of the body, nourishing the spirit of unity in
diversity and cultivating a sense of freedom-or fostering for a craving thereof to those
who receive it in scarce supply.

For most of its existence, Burma was governed by a monarchical system. This age of
kingdoms flourished until the 19th Century, when King Thibaw was forced to abdicate
the throne by invading forces. The British empire colonized the nation and foreign
dominion over the territory lasted from 1824 to 1948. Following independence, the
country was rechristened as the Union of Burma.

Democratic authority was first rebuked in 1962 when a coup was instigated by General
Ne Win. Consequently, the media was in strict censorship. In accordance with a new
constitution ratified in 2008, a general election was held two years later, thus reinstating
democracy.

However, another seizure by the military was mounted in 2021, and yet again a military
junta exercises control over every facet of life.

The first newspaper to go on regular publication in the land was the English-language
broadsheet that bears the name of “The Maulmain Chronicle”, originating from the city
of Moulmein in British-ruled Tenasserim in 1836. The paper, first published by a British
official named E.A. Blundell, continued up until the 1950s.

During the Post-colonial era that spanned from 1948-1961, a period of demoracy, albeit
brief, reigned. As a conspicuous consequence, free media flourished; the number of
print publications incrementally soared and strict censorship was non-existent.

When the Military Junta established political dominance, the only form of print media
permitted circulation were government operated. State monopoly was maintained in
order to diffuse public dissidence and enforce complete control of popular perception of
the status quo.

Four Points of Reformation

 Phase 1 (June 2011): Publications were divided into two categories.

-Category A includes showbiz, entertainment, sports subjects which are no longer

required to undergo censorship prior to publishing.

-Category B comprise of topics relating to daily news, politics, religion, business,

education and crime that are subjected to scrutiny and censorship before publication.

 Phase 2 (December 2011): Business, crime, and law prints no longer need to
pass through censorship.
 Phase 3 (February 2012): Education related prints need not pass through
censorship.
 Phase 4 (May 2012): All fictional writings were excluded from censorship.

Adhering to policy reforms in the late 2000s, privately supervised newspapers made
their return to the newsstand in April 1, 2013.

Presently, there are five state-run newspaper outlets:

-Kyemon
 -Myanmar Alin

-Myawady Daily

-New Light of Myanmar

-The Yadanabon

Concerning private daily newspaper enterprises, over a dozen are extant. There are
more than 300 publication houses that conjure weeklies and journals. Over 100 of these
are located in the commercial center of Yangon. Three newsprints see publication
overseas, namely The Mizzima News Agency, Mandalay Gazette, and Freedom News
Group.

Radio broadcasting in Myanmar traces its origins back to 1936. Owing to the dismal
state of infrastructure as well as the meager supply of electrical energy, the reach of
broadcast media is pitifully limited among the population. For a major portion of its latter
history, the radio has gained the distinction of being a reliable gadget for availing
entertainment. Several FM stations, three mediumwave stations and three shortwave
stations are in operation as of the present. Radio Myanmar, Cherry FM, Mandalay FM,
FM Bagan, Padamyar FM, Pyinsawaddy FM, Shwe FM and City FM are considered as
the nation’s main radio frequencies. Unlike Radio Myanmar, other stations are primarily
entertainment stations. In the past, radio sets were usually tuned to government
stations, however, uncensored information from stations such as BBC, VOA, Radio
Free Asia and Democratic Voice of Burma (based in Oslo, Norway) were available from
sets smuggled into the country and were (and still are) popular, though some people
caught listening to broadcasts were arrested in the past. Before Internet access became
available, foreign radio stations were a major source of information, which often helped
to break the media blackout in the country.

Television broadcasting in Myanmar commenced in 1979 as a trial. Regular television

service provided by the BBS (Burma Broadcasting System) was launched on June 3,
1980.Most television networks in the country are broadcast from Yangon. MRTV and
MWD are the two Burmese state-owned television networks, providing Burmese-
language programming in news and entertainment. Satellite television is no longer
prohibited, with satellite dishes dotting the façade or roofs of numerous edifices. Local
operator Sky Net provides more than 70 channels of local and international origin.

The Burmese cinema has a lengthy history dating back to the 1910s. The very first film
was a recording of the funeral of Tun Shein - a leading politician of the 1910s, who
campaigned for Burmese independence in London. It was captured with a second-hand
camera by Ohn Maung and was screened at the Royal Cinema, near Scott Market (now
Bogyoke Market), which belonged to a Mr. Achar. Myanmar’s movie industry was, in
essence, inaugurated by the premiere of Myitta Ne Thuya (Love and Liquor), a motion
picture craft by none other than Ohn Maung, credited as Burma’s first director and
producer. The first Burmese sound film was produced in 1932 in Bombay, India with the
title Ngwe Pay Lo Ma Ya (Money Can't Buy It) and directed by Tote Kyi. Films dealing
with social issues and political themes became popular in the 1930s. Parrot Film
Company produced films that addressed social issues such as gambling and police
corruption, although the films were censored by the British colonial government. There
were also films that were banned like Do Daung Lan (Our Peacock Flag) in 1936 and
Aung Thabyay (The Triumphant Jambul) in 1937. The political film Boycott was directed
by the student leader Ko Nu in 1937 and starred other student leaders such as Aung
San and Htun Ohn. The censors allowed this film to be shown.

Succeeding the catastrophic years of the Second World War, Burmese cinemas
persisted on highlighting political themes. Droves of films produced in the early Cold
War era had a strong propaganda element to them. The film Palè Myetyay (Tear of
Pearl), produced in the wake of the Kuomintang invasion of Burma in the 1950s,
highlighted the importance of the armed forces or Tatmadaw to the country. Ludu Aung
Than (The People Win Through) featured anti-Communist propaganda. The script was
written by U Nu who served as Prime Minister during the 1950s.

In the era that followed the political events of 1988, the film industry has been
increasingly controlled by the government. After the 1989 move by the government to
open up the economy, the movie industry saw relative privatization. The film company
Mingala became the most powerful company in the industry. Film stars who had been
involved in the political activities of the 1980s and 1990s, such as Aung Lwin and Tun
Wai, were banned from appearing in films. The films of some directors such as Win Pe
have also been banned. The government issues strict rules on censorship and largely
determines who produces films, as well as who gets academy awards.

Over the years, the movie industry has also shifted to producing many lower budget
direct-to-video films. Most of the movies produced nowadays are comedies. In 2008,
only 12 films worthy of being considered for an Academy Award were made, although at
least 800 VCDs were produced.

Another issue plaguing the Burmese cinema is a steep decline in the number of
theatres in which to screen the films. According to a December 2011 survey, the
number of theatres nationwide had declined to just 71 from their peak of 244. The
survey also found that most were several-decade-old ageing theatres, and that only six
"mini-theaters" had been built in 2009–2011. Moreover, the vast majority of the theatres
were located in Yangon and Mandalay alone.

Recently Myanmar cinema got visibility in international film festivals, due to this, a
revival of the local movie industry has been reported. In 2014, The Maw Naing's “The
Monk” was premiered at the 49th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Followed by
the participation in main competitions as; Wera Aung's short film “The Robe” at the 21st
Busan International Film Festival, Aung Phyoe's “Cobalt Blue” at 72nd Locarno Film
Festival and Maung Sun's “Money Has Four Legs” at 74th Locarno Film Festival.

Internet was first made available for public consumption in Myanmar in 2000, when the
first internet connections were established.

Owing to the lack of facilities and telecom infrastructure, coupled with the prohibitively
expensive rate of constant and sustained internet service, only about 0.3 percent of
Burma’s total population has access to the internet.

Prior to September 2011, the military government worked aggressively to limit and
control Internet access through software-based censorship, infrastructure and technical
constraints, and laws and regulations with large fines and lengthy prison sentences for
violators.
Before democratization in 2011, Internet cafés were the most common method of
accessing the Internet as most were equipped with proxy servers in order to bypass
government censorship

The popularity of Internet cafés declined with the emergence of improved

telecommunication infrastructure following liberalization, which allowed mobile Internet
to achieve widespread use. However, they are still widely present, especially in Yangon
and Mandalay where they are used extensively for blogging.

The number of Internet service providers has enormously increased since 2015 and
mobile data usage fees have also decreased to 1 MB per 5 Kyat (US$0.0035estimated),
with FTTH monthly fees starting from 20,000 Kyat (US$14.19 estimated) for 10 Mbit/s.

Before 2014, there were only 3 ISPS Myanmar Teleport, Yatamarpon Teleport and
Infotech Central Services.

According to recently conducted studies by international institutions, Myanmar "still has

social media penetration levels below 10%." Nonetheless, internet and social media
usage continues to surge in popularity.

After the 2021 military coup on 1 February, internet censorship saw a significant re-
emergence.

The State Administration Council shut down all telecommunications in the late midnight
of 31 January. After a few days, social media, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
and WhatsApp, were banned following their usage by anti-coup protestors.

On 6 and 7 February, the Internet experienced a blackout with minor shutdowns in

several regions. From 15 February, internet curfews were initiated seemingly without
reason, lasting daily from 1:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.

On 15 March 2021, the military completely shut off mobile internet access in Myanmar,
and all internet access on 18 March.

As per Reuters, "U.N. human rights experts investigating a possible genocide in

Myanmar said that Facebook had played a role in spreading hate speech there." The
Rohingya genocide was found to be affected by Facebook, as Reuters found that while
Facebook was broadly "used to convey public messages", it also allowed ultra-
nationalist Buddhist groups to incite violence and "hatred against the Rohingya or other
ethnic minorities. “

Myanmar Media Laws

 Burma Wireless Telegraphy Act (1993)

British colonial government deemed it an offense for entities to be in possession

of wireless telegraphy apparatuses without securing a license granted by the
authorities. This was amended by the Miltary Junta in 1995 and 1996 to include
fax machines and computers.

 Printers and Publishers Registration Law (1962)

-Mandates publishers to submit copies of books, magazines and newsprints to

press scrutiny boards for possible revision prior to approval for distribution.

 Martial Law Order 3/89 (1989)

-An edict wherein document publication absent of registration from the Home and
Religious Affairs Ministry is considered a sanctionable crime.

 The Motion Picture Law (1996)

-License to produce films must be obtained from the Myanmar Motion

Picture Enterprise. Submitted crafts are censored when necessary.

 The Computer Science Development Law (1996)

-Media companies must first file an appeal to the Ministry of Communication

before utilizing, importing or possessing computer hardwares.

 Internet Law (2000)

 -Imposes regulations on postings on Internet sites that may be seen as
detrimental to the country’s security, policies and state of affairs.

 Electronic Transactions Law (2004)

-Regulates the Internet and similar electronic transactions in a wide variety of

ways, including the definition of penalties that span up to 15 years of
incarceration for engaging in illicit e-commerce.

References

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Dolan, T., & Gray, S. (2014). Media and Conflict in Myanmar:. United States Institute of
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Foster, M. (2013). The Business of Media in Myanmar, 2013. Internews, February

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