In the Service of Power: Media Capture and the Threat to Democracy a film has been blocked.53 The festival’s out-going Executive-Director Mon Mon Myat says the decision demonstrates the military’s continued power. She does, however, point to one positive change: the state broadcaster Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV) is now willing to broadcast many of the human rights-themed films screened at the festival.54 In the third and arguably most controversial case, in July 2016 a military officer filed a lawsuit against one of the country’s most popular and respected daily newspapers, 7Day Daily, claiming that one of its stories portrayed the military as disloyal and unwilling to cooperate with the government. The officer used section 131 of Burma’s penal code that punishes anyone “abetting mutiny or impacting on an officer’s allegiance or duty” with a prison sentence of up to 10 years. It was the first time the military attempted to prosecute a media outlet under the new government. Although the officer filed the suit without informing the Burmese press council (officially called the News Media Council), the latter intervened behind the scenes and the charges were subsequently dropped (Wa Lone and Toe Wai Aung 2016). Though the case was believed to have been politically motivated, and 7Day publically stated it had not violated any laws, it nonetheless published an apology that was fiercely criticized by its journalistic peers for undermining media ethics, the independence of editors and journalists, and citizens’ right to know. The decision also highlights the media’s lack of trust in the judiciary and the fear that a lack of cooperation could impact negatively on a media outlet’s survival, not to mention other business interests (PEN Myanmar 2016). In its published apology, 7Day promised to be careful when reporting on future military matters. The press council notes that it seldom issues statements related to the military; in light of the extreme sensitivity of this case, it says it carefully chose its words. Both the press council and the Minister of Information recommended that priority should be placed on mediation and negotiation in the future (The Irrawaddy 2016). When the military threatened to sue The Voice Daily for criminal defamation in 2017, therefore, it was viewed as a positive step when the military turned first to the press council for mediation instead of to the courts. Yet the talks broke down and on June 1, 2017, The Voice Daily Editor-in-chief Kyaw Min Swe and a satire columnist who writes under the pen name British Ko Ko Maung were arrested. They were the 67th and 68th criminal defamation cases filed under section 66(d) of the telecommunications law.55 Laws, safety, and self-censorship The death of freelance journalist and former democracy activist Aung Kyaw Naing (Par Gyi) in one of the country’s seven ethnic states, Mon State, while in military custody is the first of two documented killings of journalists since the beginning of 72