Analysis: Current Landscape of Hate Speech in Myanmar the government.475 In January 2017, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar reported that over 40 individuals faced prosecution under the provision, “many of them merely for speaking their minds.”476 Following heavy criticism, Section 66(d) was amended in August 2017,477 limiting the unlawful acts to “extorting, defaming, disturbing or threatening” others via telecommunications networks.478 However, as the language of the provision remains both vague and broad, the amendment has been criticized for having “no discernible impact” in stopping the abuse.479 Section 68(a) of the Telecommunications Law has also been used by authorities as a tool to target those who speak out against the military and the government.480 This section establishes that whoever communicates, receives, transmits, distributes, or conveys incorrect information with dishonesty or participation shall, on conviction, be subject to a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or both.481 Like Section 66(d), this Section is extremely broad and leaves journalists and others who “communicate or convey incorrect information” vulnerable to selective enforcement.482 Section 66(d) has been a particular source of concern due to its broad restraints on online expression.483 Printing and Publishing Law In addition to laws regulating online expression, the government has also established restrictions on expression in the media specifically. The 2014 Printing and Publishing Law prohibits publishing works “expressing things which can racially and culturally do violence to each other among ethnic people or citizens”484 or “showing things which can harass national security, rules of law, [and] public order of the rights of every citizen such as equality, freedom, and balance of law.”485 The 2014 News Media Law makes it a crime to circulate news that “deliberately affects the reputation of a specific person or an organization.”486 The law also establishes a press council to regulate all forms of media, but this council expressly includes three government appointees and is partially funded by the gov- ernment.487 Instead of advocating for journalistic freedom by defending journalists from arrests or complaints, the council has earned serious criticism for “being too close to the government.”488 In fact, 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 Human Rights Watch, They Can Arrest You, 5. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights, “End of Mission Statement by Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar,” January 17, 2017, https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/ DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=21107&LangID=E. Joe Freeman, “Myanmar Moves to Amend Controversial Online Defamation Law,” VOA, July 25, 2017, https://www. voanews.com/a/myanmar-moves-to-amend-controversial-online-defamation-law/3958206.html. Amendment of the Telecommunications Law (2017), http://freeexpressionmyanmar.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Telecommunications-Law-Amendment-EN.pdf [unofficial English translation]. “Amendment made no difference, says report urging repeal of 66(d),” Frontier Myanmar, December 11, 2017, https:// frontiermyanmar.net/en/amendment-made-no-difference-says-report-urging-repeal-of-66d. Telecommunications Law, Section 68(2a) (2013), http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs23/2013-10-08-Telecommunications_Law-en.pdf. Ibid. Article 19, Myanmar Briefing Paper: Criminalisation of Free Expression (May 2019), 2, https://www.article19.org/ wp-content/uploads/2019/06/2019.06.6-A19-Criminalisation-of-Free-Expression-final.pdf Ibid.; See also 002-R3-02, 1. Printing and Publishing Law, Section 8(a) (2014), http://freeexpressionmyanmar.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Printing-and-Publishing-Law-EN.pdf. Ibid., sec. 8(b). News Media Law, Sections 9(g) (2014), 25, http://freeexpressionmyanmar.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/ News-Media-Law-EN.pdf. Ibid., sec. 13(a). Human Rights Watch, Dashed Hopes, 72. 75