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Freedom of Expression During Myanmar’s Revolution: The Gap Between Legal Provisions and Practice In the formation of the Karenni State Consultative Council under the Karenni State Interim Arrangement, five key stakeholder groups are explicitly listed: ethnic armed organisations, political parties, members of parliament, youth organisations, civil society organisations and strike committees, and women’s representative groups. Similarly, the Federal Democracy Charter, the Sagaing Federal Unit Interim Constitution, and the Mandalay Region Interim Political Plan include stakeholder groups similar to those in Karenni. However, findings from the study’s focus group discussions suggest that such participation was largely nominal and did not reflect genuine public consultation. A participant of the FGD discussion who was also involved in drafting these interim plans said, “When these interim arrangements were drafted, the level of stakeholder inclusion varied by region. It was not the same everywhere. In some areas, efforts were made to bring together all local groups. However, the framework was built around those from the revolutionary side. Although they all represent multiple issues, there would be a problem if they were mixed. Once the revolutionary line was set as the starting point, inclusion became restricted from that stage.”41 Journalists and members of the public who participated in the research interviews noted that they were unaware of the processes by which the interim arrangements were drafted. A journalism trainer said, “The Independent Press Council of Myanmar was founded in December 2023. When these documents were being drafted, for example, Mandalay and Sagaing were done later, from what I have seen, around 2025. Karenni State was drafted slightly earlier than that. As far as I know, in the cases of Mandalay and Sagaing, I have not heard that the IPCM was involved.”42 41 42 A participant of Focus Group Discussion who involved in drafting the arrangement An expert on media affairs who participated in the interview 34

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Freedom of Expression During Myanmar’s Revolution : The Gap Between Legal Provisions and Practice

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Burmese
English

Topic

Information Operation
Military Coup

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Athan

Date Published: Feb 17, 2026

Abstract: he military coup of 1 February 2021 marked a major turning point in Myanmar’s political and legal history. The military’s seizure of power constituted a blatant violation of Articles 417 and 4181 of the 2008 Constitution, which was in force at the time, with those entrusted with safeguarding the law instead breaching it. Consequently, on 31 March 2021, the Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH)2 formally declared the complete abolition of the 2008 Constitution through Announcement No. 2/2021.

This decision also legally invalidated the military regime’s narrative that the 2021 coup was carried out in accordance with the Constitution. However, it simultaneously created a constitutional vacuum at the national level, leaving Myanmar without a governing constitution. To prevent the collapse of the rule of law and administrative mechanisms, and to establish the legal legitimacy of the revolution, it became urgently necessary to fill this vacuum.

In response to this need, revolutionary forces that emerged following the military coup issued the Federal Democracy Charter (FDC) on 31 March 2021. The Charter assumed the character of an interim constitutional framework, replacing the 2008 Constitution and serving as the highest legal framework during the revolutionary period. From 2023 onwards, revolutionary territories across Myanmar also began drafting and promulgating their own interim political arrangements. These developments began with the Interim Arrangements for Karenni State, followed by the Chinland Constitution, the Sagaing Federal Unit Interim Constitution, and the Mandalay Region Interim Political Plan, respectively.

These interim constitutional frameworks not only filled the legal gap left by the abolition of the 2008 Constitution, but also served as a foundational basis for establishing the legitimacy of the revolutionary forces and for building a future federal state. In particular, they function as a social contract between those who govern and those who are governed, aimed at protecting citizens’ rights.

Douglass C. North, a Nobel Prize–winning institutional economist, argues in his institutional theory3 that the principles applied in establishing a state’s foundational institutions play a decisive role in shaping its future political order. Accordingly, it becomes essential to examine how freedom of expression—one of the fundamental requirements of a democratic system—is incorporated into these foundational frameworks and the extent to which it is guaranteed, as they can serve as the critical veins of future federal units.

This study is a comparative analysis of how freedom of expression is placed in the Federal Democracy Charter and the interim legal frameworks enacted by three key revolutionary areas—Karenni State, Sagaing Region, and Mandalay Region—that emerged following the collapse of the 2008 Constitution. It comparatively examines how freedom of expression is addressed in papers and how it is practiced on the ground. This study furthermore identifies gaps between legal provisions and practical implementation, security-based restrictions, and self-censorship among the public.

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Freedom of Expression During Myanmar’s Revolution : The Gap Between Legal Provisions and Practice

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