THE PEOPLE’S RESISTANCE AMID A CRACKDOWN ON THE MEDIA When the army turned to its old method of repression, people took part in various forms of resistance including street protests, labour strikes, withholding taxes, banging pots and pans, non-participation in social and religious gatherings arranged by the law enforcement bodies, and so on. As a pre-emptive action to suppress possible resistance, the newly-formed State Administrative Council led by the military leaders arrested famous writers, activists, musicians, and social influencers who were deemed to be the leading voices for democracy or supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi.12 At the beginning, the elected members of the NLD seemed not to know how to respond to the emergency hijacking of power, but later formulated a counter-strategy by forming the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) with a few elected parliamentarians from other parties. Then a new cabinet emerged under the name National Unity Government (NUG), rejecting the military takeover, and which was in collaboration with ethnic representatives from different regions. While Myanmar’s neighbours in Asia had a serious battle with the third wave of COVID-19, Myanmar fell into a double crisis, intertwining the twin problems of the virus and the violent acts of the military forces. Although the international community repeatedly denounced the regime, the coup leaders turned a deaf ear, and even increased their acts of repression. In the first nine months, the country saw the arrest of nearly 9000, and killing of over 1,000 people by the military. In the name of the people’s security, the law enforcement bodies keep issuing arrest warrants for dissidents, with the number of open warrants having reached 1989 by 13 October 2021.13 Although kno- wing the high price they would pay, many Myanmar citizens have chosen armed struggle to put an end to these atrocities. Within a few months, many towns built their own self-defence systems and prepared for guerrilla warfare against the army. These calls for self-defence were also supported by the new parallel government, the NUG, by laying down the principles for founding the People’s Defence Force (PDF). Being prevented from openly building a chain of command among the scattered revolutionaries in Central Myanmar,14 self-initiated local PDF are picking their own battles against the Tatmadaw.15 To hide these real situations from the public eye, the MOI and other branches of the coup council used two counter-strategies: (1) restricting independent media; and (2) setting up alternative channels to spread state-sponsored content, which mainly consisted of messages denouncing the opposition groups and promoting ultra-nationalistic views. The MOI sent a warning to all media in early February, demanding that they be recognized as a legitimate governing body and not to address them as the “coup council”, in an attempt to convince citizens that the military’s intention was not to enact a coup, but was rather intervening in State affairs because of alleged election irregularities. Despite denying that a coup had taken place, the military and MOI still acted in ways that implied otherwise. The MOI warned the media that any content deemed to be destabilizing social order and provoking riots would make them liable to have their broadcasting license revoked. Since then, telling the truth has become more difficult, and fewer and fewer journalists can openly take the risk of reporting when journalism has become a crime. 12 By 28 May 2021, around 20 celebrities had been arrested, with roughly 100 in hiding, according to Radio Free Asia. See J. Lipes, “Some 120 Celebrities Arrested, in Hiding Face Charges of ‘Defamation’ Against Myanmar Junta”, Radio Free Asia, 28 May 2021, available at https://www.rfa.org/english/ news/myanmar/celebrities-05282021181217.html. 13 “Daily Briefing in Relation to the Military Coup”, Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), 13 October 2021, available at https://aappb. org/?p=18170. 14 There are 14 provinces in Myanmar. In Central Myanmar, seven provinces — known as regions — are populated by Bamar, which is the biggest ethnic group of the country, and the other seven provinces — known as states — belong to seven major ethnic groups including Kachin, Karenni, Karen, Chin, Mon, Rakhine, and Shan. 15 The official term for Myanmar’s armed forces. 6