Opening Session Opening the forum, the Permanent Secretary of the MoTC declared: "The Government has been working to build a proper policy and regulatory framework to build e-government and promote the digital economy. In doing so, we will make sure that we will include voices of the people through public consultations in each step of it. At the same time, we have to protect free speech and users online." Photo 1. U Soe Thein the Permanent Secretary of the MoTC, MDRF 2019 Other keynote speakers included Staffan Herrström, Ambassador of Sweden and Swe Win, leading investigative journalist, and Editor of Myanmar Now. Swe Win described some of the challenges Myanmar journalists face in the digital age. These include the ongoing ‘judicial harassment’ he faces as a consequence of a defamation charge under Article 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law filed against him by a supporter of the monk U Wirathu, after he shared an article critical of the monk on his Facebook page. Swe Win also told the audience how he had observed the use of fake news (‘online misinformation’) and fake photos taken from Facebook in content taught at the main civil service training institutes at Phaunggyi and Sibingyi, which he had recently covered for Myanmar Now. Swe Win told MDRF participants: “We have escaped the darkness yet, whilst beating a new path, we’ve lost our way. Good journalism uncovers realities and illuminates truth. Although we have been given the freedom to navigate in word, the hidden hands remain. Now more than ever, it is imperative that we make huge sacrifices to disseminate truth. Our drive for justice must not waver until governmental and jurisprudential institutions are both in place and committed to protecting us and to protect the truth. If senior civil servants are being force fed fake news from Facebook as part of their professional training, what hope is there for the government’s reform programme?” 3