• Burmese
Saturday, July 12, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
26 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home Opinion Commentary

Press Freedom and the Invisible Line

Kyaw Zwa Moe by Kyaw Zwa Moe
December 15, 2017
in Commentary
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0 0
A A
Myanmar journalists staged a 'Stop Killing Press' campaign in Yangon in 2014. / The Irrawaddy

Myanmar journalists staged a 'Stop Killing Press' campaign in Yangon in 2014. / The Irrawaddy

7.9k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Do we have press freedom in Myanmar? Yes, we do, but with an invisible line. No one can know where that line is because it’s unseen. When you touch or cross it, you’re finished.

Two journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, crossed that line, and they found themselves in custody on Tuesday.

Police charged the pair of Reuters reporters under the Official Secrets Act because they possessed leaked internal security reports related to fighting between border guard forces and a Muslim militant group called the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army in August. If found guilty, they could face up to 14 years in prison.

RelatedPosts

Nowhere Are the Threats Facing Journalism More Real Than in Myanmar

Nowhere Are the Threats Facing Journalism More Real Than in Myanmar

May 3, 2025
755
From Resistance to Survival: Myanmar’s Free Press Battles US Aid Cuts

From Resistance to Survival: Myanmar’s Free Press Battles US Aid Cuts

April 28, 2025
1.3k
We Need Your Support—Your $5 Helps Keep The Irrawaddy’s Mission Alive

We Need Your Support—Your $5 Helps Keep The Irrawaddy’s Mission Alive

March 27, 2025
604

Myanmar’s Official Secrets Act, enacted in 1923 under British colonial rule, is just one among many elements of the invisible line being used against the press and its practitioners.

The invisible line is now a threat to press freedom — a staple of democracy — just as the draconian censorship mechanism was under the former military regime.

In 2017 alone, 11 journalists from different publications were arrested after running critical and satirical stories about military and government officials. They crossed the invisible line.

They were charged with different laws, including Article 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law, Article 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act, the Aircraft Act and now the Official Secrets Act. The previous administration used other laws, such as Article 502 of the Penal Code for defamation and Article 131 for abetting mutiny or attempting to seduce military officers and soldiers.

The prosecutors ranged from police officers to high-ranking military and government officials and nationalists. Their victims include journalists from different publications such as The Irrawaddy, Democratic Voice of Burma, Myanmar Now, The Voice, 7Days and Reuters.

Judging from the pattern, many more laws could be added to the invisible line whenever prosecutors feel the need to extend it. That is, the line can be moved to reach any journalist if needed, especially when someone in power feels annoyed with their reporting.

Back in September, when the military withdrew its cases against six journalists and two activists, clearing the way for the journalists’ release, we felt as though the press environment might be improving.

I personally hoped there would be no ugly cases like those again.

But the arrest of the two Reuters journalists on Tuesday signaled that Myanmar is still an unsafe environment for journalists to do their job – even simply to gather information.

Worse, the cases happened with a democratic government led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) is power.

In 2015, the NLD clearly stated in its election manifesto: “The news media is the eyes and ears of the people. We will ensure that the media has the right to stand independently in accordance with self-regulation of matters relating to ethics and dignity, and the right to gather and disseminate news.”

It’s a shame for the NLD government to have let nearly a dozen journalists be arrested — less than two years after coming to power. We haven’t seen any tangible attempt by the NLD government to stop such attacks against the media, which has played an important role in the country’s transition from military rule.

We are eager to find out how democracy icon Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her government will respond.

For now, we feel more vulnerable in doing our job professionally and properly than we did under military rule. In those days, with pre-censorship in place, we knew if we were crossing the line. The worst-case scenario was that our story would be scrapped by the then-censorship board.

This is the reality that we Myanmar journalists are facing in doing our job. The question now is whether the democratic government is truly aware of the risks journalists are facing and interested in getting rid of that invisible line.

Your Thoughts …
Tags: Media
Kyaw Zwa Moe

Kyaw Zwa Moe

Executive Editor of the Irrawaddy

Similar Picks:

Elon Musk Calls for Closure of Radio Free Europe, Voice of America
World

Elon Musk Calls for Closure of Radio Free Europe, Voice of America

by Naung Naung
February 10, 2025
7.1k

The billionaire’s call to shut down the US-funded media organizations, which reach hundreds of millions of people globally, follows his...

Read moreDetails
Illustration entitled ‘Rebellious Reporters’ by Harn Lay for The Irrawaddy.
Specials

Our Fight For Press Freedom

by The Irrawaddy
May 3, 2024
103.4k

To mark World Press Freedom Day, The Irrawaddy presents a compendium of its articles on press freedom and the repression...

Read moreDetails
Burma

Myanmar Junta Rages Against E. Timor President After Defection Call

by The Irrawaddy
December 14, 2023
5.2k

The regime’s newspapers were filled with tirades against José Ramos-Horta after he urged junta troops to defect, and its backers...

Read moreDetails
Junta Watch: Football Field Dreams Amid Battlefield Disasters; Regime Propaganda’s Parallel Reality; and More
Junta Watch

Junta Watch: Football Field Dreams Amid Battlefield Disasters; Regime Propaganda’s Parallel Reality; and More

by The Irrawaddy
January 20, 2024
4.5k

Also this week, China appeased after Taiwan election, forced recruitment as resistance threatens to decouple main cities, power plea for...

Read moreDetails
Reclaiming Autonomy: Challenging the Narrative of Fragmentation in Myanmar
Guest Column

Reclaiming Autonomy: Challenging the Narrative of Fragmentation in Myanmar

by Zung Ring
June 18, 2024
2.6k

The media’s increasing obsession with ‘national disintegration’ is playing into the junta’s hands and threatening progress toward peaceful federalism.

Read moreDetails
Junta Watch: Propaganda Boosted to Drown Out Military Defeats; Drone Phobia Grips Regime; and More
Junta Watch

Junta Watch: Propaganda Boosted to Drown Out Military Defeats; Drone Phobia Grips Regime; and More

by The Irrawaddy
November 25, 2023
2.3k

Also over the past seven days, Min Aung Hlaing failed to boost morale in battered army, while the junta tried...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
Reuters journalists Kyaw Soe Oo and Wa Lone were charged under the Official Secrets Act.

Analysis: Government Turning Back the Clock on Press Freedom

Artist Min Zaw Aung Inspires Viewers to Think Outside the Box

Artist Min Zaw Aung Inspires Viewers to Think Outside the Box

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

‘Reforms Are Not Optional’: Prominent Activist Urges NUG to Act Before It’s Too Late

‘Reforms Are Not Optional’: Prominent Activist Urges NUG to Act Before It’s Too Late

3 days ago
1k
Trump’s Tariffs to Hit Myanmar’s Garment Manufacturers Hard

Trump’s Tariffs to Hit Myanmar’s Garment Manufacturers Hard

3 days ago
1k

Most Read

  • Myanmar Junta Deploying Conscripts in Major Push to Reclaim Lost Territory

    Myanmar Junta Deploying Conscripts in Major Push to Reclaim Lost Territory

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Chief Thanks Trump for Shutting Down VOA and RFA

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Chinese Investment Reshapes Myanmar’s N. Shan as MNDAA Consolidates Power

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • KIA Denies Rumor Chief Under House Arrest in China

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • ‘Not a Witch Hunt’: Upholding Survivor-Centered Justice in Myanmar

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.