5/22/22, 9:02 PM Halfway there: Myanmar’s difficult transition toward freedom of expression | Heinrich Böll Stiftung Halfway there: Myanmar’s difficult transition toward freedom of expression For decades, Myanmar was among the most isolated countries in the world. Although the process of democratization and the internet have changed things, people still cannot express themselves freely. A picture from the flower speech movement licence infos This article is part of our special on Digital Asia. At the turn of the new millennium, there were many discussions about how emerging technologies were bringing people from different countries closer together. Whereas for many the world had transformed into a “global village,” Myanmar remained a village cut off from the rest of the world by its military dictatorship. Unfair laws and strict limits imposed by government authorities isolated Myanmar and prevented it from participating in global developments. The dictators who erected these barriers kept Myanmar’s citizens ignorant of the radical social and political changes that were occurring elsewhere in the world. Yet, young people in Myanmar, who were brought up in the new electronic information age, used information technology as a “drilling machine” to view these changes beyond their borders. They then realized how much Myanmar was lagging behind and shared their knowledge with other citizens. Restricting technologies creates invisible walls Thanks to the spread of information via the internet, they were able to share with the international community what was happening in their own country. However, this was a dangerous venture. Most websites – notably those of exiled media such as the BBC, VOA, RFA, and DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) – had been banned under Myanmar military rule. Watching exiled TV media companies via satellite dishes was also forbidden. Many people were only able to use the email service officially provided by the former junta government. The use of other email services, such as Gmail and Yahoo Mail, was prohibited, as was the registration of blogs under these email services. Anyone who violated these bans risked imprisonment. https://www.boell.de/en/2018/02/07/halfway-there-myanmars-difficult-transition-toward-freedom-expression 1/4