5/22/22, 12:03 AM Myanmar: Freedom on the Net 2021 Country Report | Freedom House traction in Myanmar, some activists claim that survivors of sexual violence now often self-censor, having seen the intimidation faced by other women who have spoken out. 156 Before the coup, some users, including those who discussed what are considered sensitive issues, had also learned to avoid words and phrases that might be automatically identified and removed by content hosts such as Facebook, regardless of their legitimacy; even innocuous words that contain slurs within their text could be affected. 157 B5 0-4 pts Are online sources of information controlled or manipulated by the government or other powerful actors to advance a particular political interest? 1/4 At the beginning of the coup, the military took control of all state-owned media and government communications channels. This entailed the capture of Twitter accounts and Facebook pages, including the Facebook page of the NLD. 158 The military has since used these outlets to disseminate its propaganda and threats. 159 Some of the Facebook pages and Twitter accounts, including those controlled by the Ministry of Information, have been suspended, either directly by the platforms or in response to user-generated reporting campaigns. 160 The military has also instructed the private media to report on the coup in a more supportive manner, and punished outlets that continued to criticize the junta. 161 The military has repeatedly threatened to revoke media outlets’ publishing licenses if they did not stop using Myanmar words that translate as “regime” and “junta.” 162 A directive issued in February 2021 by the military-run Ministry of Information argued that the terms were inaccurate, as the junta’s governing body was “constitutionally formed by the military.” Editors and journalists with the Myanmar Times reported interference in their work as management banned terms like “coup,” requiring the use of “power transfer” instead. 163 Most outlets continued their critical coverage, and the military had canceled the digital and print publishing licenses of seven large national outlets by June 2021, rendering them unlawful and leaving their staff at risk of arrest for unlawful association. 164 The military and its affiliates spread manipulated information claiming electoral fraud following the November 2020 elections. Since the coup, the military has simultaneously warned against spreading rumors and faced numerous allegations that it promotes misinformation itself. 165 Even before it seized power, the military’s messaging on certain issues, including on the Rohingya and other ethnic and religious minority groups, dominated the online landscape. These viewpoints had been presented on state-controlled broadcast media and fed into the public discourse on Facebook. The content was then amplified by users with military backgrounds or other promilitary accounts. 166 Despite years of affirming its desire for media freedom, the NLD sought to retain control over stateowned media during its time in government, 167 apparently to manage what information was publicly available. 168 As a result, the NLD-led government and the military dominated the broadcasting sector and a significant portion of print media prior to the coup, including those outlets’ online presences, TOP either directly through the Ministry of Information or via joint ventures with private companies. 169 They claimed to use official Facebook pages—such as those of the Ministry of Information, 170 the State Counsellor Office, 171 and the Information Committee 172 —to provide the public with “unbiased” https://freedomhouse.org/country/myanmar/freedom-net/2021 13/28