FREEDOM ON THE NET 2016 MYANMAR Introduction Higher rates of internet access and digital advocacy improved internet freedom, though the year also saw the highest number of prosecutions documented since liberalization began in 2011.1 Myanmar went through its second phase of political transition, shifting power from the military-backed government to the National League for Democracy (NLD) party chaired by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in April 2016.2 Troublingly, internet users were tentative in their discussion about the new government, and continued to practice self-censorship after the November elections, fearing harassment and censure from the still-powerful military, and even supporters of the democratically elected leadership. The unprecedented political dynamism of the general elections in November 2015 was marred by intimidation of internet users by supporters on both sides of the political divide. With the new NLD administration sworn in on March 30, 2016, rights groups expect reform. Dozens of political prisoners were pardoned and released in April.3 Another early step was to streamline bureaucracy with the creation of a new Ministry of Transport and Communications. The government of former military leader President Thein Sein officially ended media censorship in 2012. Norway’s Telenor Group established the country’s first independent connection to the international internet, and Qatar’s Ooredoo launched mobile phone service across large parts of the country in 2014. The government passed a Telecommunications Law to facilitate this opening of the market.4 However, it was the basis of several arrests for online speech in 2015 and 2016. And the outgoing communications ministry issued its last mobile telecommunication operator license to a newly-formed consortium in a move that observers said advantaged the military’s financial interests. Online mobilization was particularly dynamic. All major political parties engaged on social media, which was an influential platform in major cities, and internet usage nationwide was 12 percent higher than usual on election day, according to one report.5 However, intolerance is also rampant online, aggravated by discriminatory policies against ethnic minorities like the Muslim Rohingya,6 who are denied citizenship under Myanmar’s laws. Religious nationalist movements negatively influenced public discourse on the internet, especially in the run-up to the elections and immediately after the new government took office. In a new development, some NLD supporters are showing intolerance for criticism of Aung San Suu Kyi. Earlier Freedom House publications referred to Myanmar as Burma. The military-led government changed the country’s name from Union of Burma to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar without a referendum in 1989, a decision the opposition rejected as politicized. Myanmar became increasingly common, particularly after the regime adopted a more civilian form of government. 1 2 Although the NLD won 79 percent of seats in parliament, Aung San Suu Kyi is barred from running for president under a clause in the constitution which excludes her for having a spouse or children who are foreign nationals (her sons are British citizens). Parliament elected her ally Htin Kway to the presidency and appointed Aung San Suu Kyi to the newly-created position of state counselor. See: BBC News, “Myanmar elects Htin Kyaw as first civilian president in decades,” March 15, 2016, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35808921; Euan McKirdy, New government role created for Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi,” April 7, 2016, http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/06/asia/aung-san-suu-kyi-state-counsellor-role-created/. 3 AAPP-B, “AAPP-B monthly Chronology of April 2016 and Current Political Prisoners list,” May 20, 2016, http://aappb. org/2016/05/aapp-b-monthly-chronology-of-april-2016/. 4 Shibani Mahtani, “Myanmar’s Telecom Revolution Bogs Down,” The Wall Street Journal, October 25, 2013. http://on.wsj. com/1w4lTPD. 5 Internet Journal, November 13, 2015, http://internetjournal.media/news/4772 6 Human Rights Watch, “Myanmar: Rohingya Muslims Face Humanitarian Crisis,” March 26, 2013, http://bit.ly/1HSsJdA. www.freedomonthenet.org