5/22/22, 12:03 AM Myanmar: Freedom on the Net 2021 Country Report | Freedom House alongside the Patent Law and the Industrial Design Law, which also include criminal sanctions for violations. 254 In May 2019, a copyright law that includes prison terms of up to three years for commercial copying without consent was adopted. 255 Each law applies to online content and could be used against users. After a series of leaked draft laws criminalizing “hate speech” received significant criticism from civil society in 2017, the process of developing such a law was largely kept secret, and a bill had not yet been put before the parliament at the time of the coup. 256 The government claimed in 2017 that consultations with civil society regarding the bill had occurred, 257 but several well-known civil society organizations working on the issue refuted these assertions and had received no responses to their requests for meetings with the parliament. 258 The government in April 2020 issued a Directive on the Prevention of Incitement to Hatred and Violence, ordering officials to address the issue of hate speech. 259 The directive came in advance of a reporting deadline set by the International Court of Justice. C3 0-6 pts Are individuals penalized for online activities, particularly those that are protected under international human rights standards? 1/6 Internet users are frequently prosecuted in Myanmar’s restrictive legal environment. Between the start of the coup and June 2021, 86 journalists and media workers had been charged under at least 10 laws, in many cases for their journalism published online. 260 The vast majority were awaiting sentencing at the end of the coverage period and had been held in pretrial detention. 261 The military has also targeted prominent social media users—including influencers, actors, singers, and food and beauty bloggers—by adding them to wanted lists that are broadcast nightly for those charged under Section 505A of the penal code (see C2). At least 60 people were on these lists as of early April. 262 The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) identified Myanmar as one of the world’s worst jailers of journalists in a report published after the coverage period. 263 The organization listed at least 32 journalists in jail as of July 1, noting that the actual number was likely higher given that its sources feared repercussions for identifying detained colleagues. Though all but one of those listed had been placed behind bars during the coverage period, Democratic Voice of Burma reporter Min Nyo was the only journalist to receive a conviction by the end of that period. Min Nyo was sentenced to three years in prison in May 2021 under Section 505A of the penal code; he had been in pretrial detention since he was arrested while covering protests in March. Other journalists detained under Section 505A include Nathan Maung and Han Thar Nyein, cofounders of the online news website Kamayut Media. They were detained during a March 2021 raid on the outlet’s office, after which Maung reported being interrogated about the publication. The two also reported being tortured in detention (see C7); though Maung, a US journalist, was freed on June 15, Han Thar Nyein remained in prison as of the end of the month. 264 Four others on the CPJ list were handed twoor three-year prison sentences after the coverage period, in June 2021. TOP Some cases are clearly intended to silence the media’s investigative journalism. In January 2021, the military filed a lawsuit against an editor and a journalist from the Rakhine-based Development Media Group under Article 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law after their outlet published a story about https://freedomhouse.org/country/myanmar/freedom-net/2021 20/28