5/24/22, 7:49 PM Myanmar blocks “fake news” websites amid COVID-19 pandemic | OONI Blocked domains Listed as “fake OONI measurements news” www.kalawnaryisin.com Yes https://explorer.ooni.org/search?until=2020-05 06&domain=www.kalawnaryisin.com&probe_cc= From the above table, it is evident that out of 41 blocked news outlets, the majority of them (27 sites) were not listed as “fake news” by the Myanmar Press Council. However, it is possible that those sites may have been included in a blocklist shared by authorities with ISPs in Myanmar. Interestingly, some domains that are listed as “fake news” by the Myanmar Press Council remain accessible, such as myitter.net or mmlivenews.com (which was blocked on AS9988, but accessible on AS133385). Ethnic media websites that were reported to be blocked – such as Development Media Group (DMG), Narinjara, and Karen News – are confirmed blocked by OONI data. The blocking of news outlets (as shared through the above table) includes media websites reporting on the situation in Rakhine, as well as Rohingya news sites, such as www.thestateless.com. Conclusion This study confirms the DNS based blocking of 174 domains by Telenor Myanmar (AS133385). Most of these domains contain adult content, but many of them include news outlets as well. While some of these news outlets have been listed as “fake news” by the Myanmar Press Council, it remains unclear if the remaining blocked news outlets are blocked on the grounds of spreading “fake news”, or on other grounds. Telenor Myanmar disclosed that they blocked access to 230 websites, but the list of these URLs has not been published. It’s worth highlighting, though, that the 174 domains that are confirmed blocked as part of this study fall under the two major categories of sites that Telenor Myanmar mentioned that they are required to censor: pornography and news (which could potentially be viewed as “fake news”). It is therefore plausible that these 174 domains could be amongst the 230 sites that Telenor Myanmar recently blocked access to. This is further suggested by the fact that many of these sites only appear to have been blocked recently. Authorities in Myanmar have defended the blocking of “fake news” as part of efforts to tackle disinformation around COVID-19. However, transparency around which URLs are specifically blocked (especially when they involve the sites of vulnerable communities) and why/how they are viewed as “fake news” is essential in ensuring press freedom, particularly amid a global pandemic when access to information is crucial. Appendix This study confirms the blocking of the following 174 domain names in Myanmar between 1st January 2020 to 9th April 2020. africanporn.blog alixnxx.org alohatube.mobi https://ooni.org/post/2020-myanmar-blocks-websites-amid-covid19/ 8/14