Table 2. Electronic Transactions Law provisions that curtail freedom of expression Article Article 33 Article 34 Description (a) committing any act detrimental to the security of the State or prevalence of law and order or community peace and tranquillity or national solidarity or national economy or national culture. (b) receiving or sending and distributing any information relating to secrets of the security of the State or prevalence of law and order or community peace and tranquillity or national solidarity or national economy or national culture. (d) creating, modifying or altering of information or distributing of information created, modified or altered by electronic technology to be detrimental to the interest of or to lower the dignity of any organization or any person. Although there are no longer cases filed in relation to this law, there are still potential risks as there is an article that targets freedom of speech online. In Article 35 of the Computer Science Development Law, seven to 15 years in prison and/or a fine are the punishment for committing any act (including transmitting and receiving information) that “undermines state security, prevalence of law and order and community peace and tranquillity, national unity, State economy or national culture.” Electronic Transactions Law The Electronic Transactions Law was enacted in 2004 and later amended in 2014. The main objective of the law is to promote and support electronic transaction technologies for economic development and educational purposes. However, because of the severe penalties and vague definitions, it was infamous for putting many political activists behind bars during the era of the military government. According to the original Electronic Transactions Law, a person is liable for imprisonment from seven to 15 years for committing any act that undermines national security, community peace and tranquillity, national unity, the state economy or national culture.9 We must note that these are vague terms. Under the law, it is also possible to be imprisoned for three to five years for “dishonesty” and “defamation”. The provisions in the Electronic Transactions Law that curtail freedom of expression are detailed in Table 2. Due to the resultant controversy and threat for journalists and political activists, the Electronic Transactions Law was amended by a motion in 9 docs15/1996-SLORC_Law1996-10-Computer_Science_ Development_Law-en.pdf English translation sourced from: www.burmalibrary.org/docs15/2004SPDC_Law2004-05-Electronic_Transactions_Law-en.pdf Penalty Jail term from five years to at most seven years. Fine from MMK 1,000,000 to 5,000,000. If unable to pay fine, he/she will be liable to be sentenced from six months to not more than one year of imprisonment. parliament by MP U Thein Nyunt10 from the National Democratic Force party in 2014. The amendment reduced the jail terms and also replaced some of the jail terms with fines for defamatory speech online. Despite this effort, the law is still on the books and can be used to criminalise online speech. Telecommunications Law The Telecommunications Law was adopted in 2013 during Myanmar’s telecom liberalisation process. The law is mainly targeted towards the telecom sector players, which are the regulatory body, the Ministry of Transport and Communication, telecoms operators and network companies. It also aims to address consumer protection, specifically for the telecommunications sector. Despite its main objectives, there is a clause in the law that has proved to be problematic. A number of cases have arisen from the usage of Article 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law, which states: Whoever commits any of the following acts shall, on conviction, be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to a fine or to both. […] (d) Extorting, coercing, restraining wrongfully, defaming, disturbing, causing undue influence or threatening to any person by using any Telecommunications Network.11 A person convicted of an offence under Article 66(d) is liable for imprisonment of up to three years and/ 10 Soe Than Lynn. (2013, 4 February). Government to redraft ‘outdated’ electronic transactions law. Myanmar Times. www. mmtimes.com/index.php/national-news/3977-govertment-toredraft-outdated-electronic-transactions-law.html 11 English translation sourced from: www.burmalibrary.org/ docs23/2013-10-08-Telecommunications_Law-en.pdf 98 / Unshackling Expression