5. Financial exclusion and its impact on media viability Media viability is fundamental to media independence, sustainability, and freedom. The Myanmar media’s viability is particularly precarious due to its exile. Traditional revenue streams such as sales and advertising are largely impossible when the military controls public spaces, denies access to the broadcast spectrum, and threatens companies with reprisals. The undermining of media viability increased in the countdown to the elections as several long-standing donors withdrew all international assistance for Myanmar. The U.S.A cut all funding to the media in 2025, Sweden announced a phasing out by June 2026, and Germany has recently decreased its financial commitments. 5.1. The platform monetisation crisis This leaves independent media significantly and increasingly dependent on digital platform revenue to survive, commonly known as “monetisation”. However, only 35% of the media have successfully monetised content on Facebook, 39% on YouTube, and only 13% on TikTok. Indeed, 50% of the media are receiving no monetisation revenue whatsoever. These low proportions reflect that platforms’ monetisation rules are not flexible enough to deal with the specific realities of media operating in conflict and exile. The primary barrier is the platforms' one-size-fits-all “Monetisation denial is approach to eligibility, based on the realities of just another form of countries like the U.S.A. Of those media which are not monetising from platforms, 50% reported that censorship” platform requirements are unachievable in an exile context. Platforms demand corporate stability and formal business registration, which is impossible for media operating in a precarious legal limbo. An editor said: “We get no income from the platforms because they do not allow us in their monetisation programme.” Because many media cannot register as businesses in their host countries, they cannot open the specific bank accounts required by platforms. One owner said, “We don’t get paid because we don’t have a bank account that Facebook finds acceptable.” Another said, “We used to make money from YouTube, but nowadays we receive nothing from them”, said one media owner. Page 16 of 19