Facebook, YouTube, Twitch and MediaFire have taken down key junta propaganda channels and accounts after complaints from human rights activists Justice for Myanmar.
In a statement Thursday, JFM said the accounts were run by the Ministry of Information and the army’s Directorate of Psychological Warfare and Public Relations, which “have been sanctioned in multiple jurisdictions, including the U.S., UK, EU, Canada and Australia.”
The group hailed “an important step to undermine the junta’s propaganda mission that target both Myanmar and foreign audiences.”
Accounts that faced the chop on Facebook included Myanmar International Television (MITV), an English-language news channel under junta control, and Yadanarpon Newspaper.
Cloud storage and file-sharing service Media Fire also removed an account of Yadanarpon Newspaper PDFs that the army was storing to share on its Facebook account.
YouTube removed a Ministry of Information account, but MITV still seems to be up.
Twitch, the Amazon-owned live-streaming platform, also removed MITV, as well as Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV) and 14 Myanmar radio channels.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing launched the MRTV apps on Google’s Play and Apple’s App Store in May 2022 to disseminate propaganda and portray the democratic resistance as “terrorists.” Both remain active, but without the ability to advertise on social media their reach could be limited.
JFM said it also wrote letters to Google and YouTube’s parent company Alphabet, Apple, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), Telegram, Cloudflare and APKPure, but they have yet to take action.
Facebook, which is blocked in Myanmar, has been the most active in removing junta-linked accounts, taking down dozens as early as August 2021.
However, the military’s proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and its leaders are still able to run their election campaigns on Facebook as well as TikTok, YouTube, Telegram, and other platforms.
The junta is intensifying efforts to produce and disseminate propaganda and disinformation ahead of a heavily rigged election at year-end, JFM warned. It urged all tech companies to take down junta propaganda accounts and block the regime from using their platforms.
