Update on Journalism and Media in Myanmar July - September 2023 clashes have been reported this year. A breakdown in the truce appears likely, according to independent assessments. Rakhine journalists are being more vigilant about their safety and some have gone into hiding after Rakhine regional authorities circulated a list of individuals wanted for a range of securityrelated crimes. Ten journalists, including nine who are Rakhine-based and work for local media, are in this list of individuals – which also includes civil society campaigners – who face prosecution under charges brought forth before and after the 2021 coup. The journalists in this list of wanted persons face charges of sedition, and violations of Section 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law and the Unlawful Associations Act. Since this list was circulated across the Rakhine security apparatus, journalists have been reporting more inspections at security checkpoints and while traveling. Compared to Myanmar’s other regions that saw the first arrests of journalists within weeks after the February 2021 coup, Rakhine has seen much fewer arrests of local journalists since the military takeover. The first arrest of a Rakhine-based journalist, freelancer Mrat Thu Aung, was in September 2022, at his home in Mrauk Oo. But the situation is changing. More recently, independent reporting from Rakhine has been quite difficult under the military’s restrictions in the wake of Cyclone Mocha in May, as reflected by the 20-year prison term given to Myanmar Now photojournalist Sai Zaw Theik in the third quarter of 2023. The restrictions around information come on top of the still-limited access by international humanitarian groups to communities affected by the devastation caused by Cyclone Mocha, one of the strongest cyclones to ever hit Myanmar. While independent reporting in Rakhine state was a challenge even before the coup – for instance around issues like the plight of the minority Rohingya – the resumption of hostilities between the Arakan Army and the SAC would add another layer of complication to an already hostile environment for news. 7