6.2. The public boycott of the military narrative
A large portion of the public dislikes pro-military narratives, including those
promoted by individual military-affiliated outlets. While previous sections showed
declines in views and engagement with State-owned and military-aligned media, the
public response is driven more by editorial stance than by the outlets themselves.
The reach of media with broadly pro-military stances declined by -80% after the
coup, compared to anti-military outlets, which saw their reach increase by +15%.
This shows a collective public attempt to exercise their right to be free from harmful
communication, including propaganda for war and incitement to hatred.
The public also increasingly avoided engaging with pro-military media, which saw
likes decline by -26%, shares plummet by -90%, and comments drop by -72%. The
anti-military media increased their likes by +274% and sustained their number of
shares and comments (-2% and -8% respectively). The significant collapse of
engagement for pro-military outlets indicates that the military has lost the consent
of the governed within the digital public square.
Reach by editorial stance in 2026 compared to pre-coup
-100
-75
-50
-25
0
+25
+50
+75
Very anti-military
+160%
Anti-military
+2
Impartial
Pro-military
+100
-70%
-89%
Very pro-military
-63%
6.3. Public support for exile media
The independent media have remained resilient despite their leaders, journalists, and
newsrooms being forced into exile to avoid arbitrary arrest, confiscation of property,
and closures.13 Within a month of the coup, exile media produced 44% of all media
posts. That proportion continued to rise, increasing by +71% to reach 63% in 2026.
Most of the remaining posts came from State-owned or military-aligned outlets still
operating inside Myanmar, although their proportion fell by -23%.14 This puts into
practice the ICCPR principle that the right to seek and impart information applies
“regardless of frontiers”.
13
Only a small number of independent outlets did not go into exile, and they either closed, moved to areas under
the control of ethnic organisations, or self-censored, changing their editorial stance to pro-military.
14
A small proportion of the media posts produced inside Myanmar came from outlets operating from areas under
the control of ethnic organisations.
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