of Myanmar, and Karen News 131 for supposedly spreading “fake news” on COVID-19, among other reasons 132. Mobile phone operator Telenor Myanmar stated that the legal basis provided by authorities for the block was Article 77 of the Telecommunications Law, regarding “public interest”. On 9 September three unidentified websites were unblocked as "the sites [were] not found to spread misinformation or to violate media ethics 133". In US-based think tank Freedom House’s 2020 “Freedom on the Net” report, Myanmar scored only 31 points out of 100 and was deemed "not free", citing the mobile internet blocking in several townships in Rakhine and Chin states and the blocking of news websites among other key developments 134. The Ministry of Transport and Communications ordered to "stop mobile internet traffic" in nine townships in Rakhine and Chin states on 20 June 2019 135. The shutdown was lifted in Maungdaw township in northern Rakhine on 2 May 2020 136 but in the eight other townships, only 2G network was restored, which allows only voice calls and limited data transmission 137. In a joint statement 138, several rights groups expressed “concern by government’s latest directive ordering telecommunications companies to extend the effective internet shutdown beyond the elections.” The 2G network limitation was set to end on 31 October 2020 but telco Telenor said in a statement that the Ministry of Transport and Communications directed all mobile phone operators in Myanmar to extend the internet restrictions until 31 December 2020. 139 Reporting on Elections According to journalists and media outlets interviewed by ANFREL, there have been significant improvements between 2015 and 2020 as they are freer to cover election activities, have access to polling stations during advance voting, and have not been subjected to harassment from local authorities ahead of the 2020 general elections. While the ANFREL mission was told that access to information and transparency of election processes have improved, journalists continue to face difficulties in gaining access to government officials and obtaining information from state agencies such as the Union Election Commission (UEC). People also remain hesitant to talk to media as they are afraid to say something wrong or provide information that might place them at risk. Journalists in Myanmar have a general appreciation of their profession’s ethical standards and they subscribe to in-house code of ethics and community-led guidelines. The Myanmar Press Council (MPC) has updated its media guidelines for election coverage built on MPC’s Media Code of Conduct and Media Ethics in time for the 2020 polls 140. However, initial findings from the Myanmar Network Organization for Free Elections’ (MYNFREL) monitoring of media election coverage revealed that media focused primarily on the two major parties that are the National League for Democracy (NLD) and Union Solidarity and Development Party 131 https://freedomhouse.org/country/myanmar/freedom-net/202 https://www.mmtimes.com/news/telenor-follows-myanmar-orders-block-alleged-fake-news-sites.html 133 https://www.telenor.com.mm/en/article/blocking-websites-myanmar-updated-9-september-2020 134 https://freedomhouse.org/country/myanmar/freedom-net/2020 135 https://www.article19.org/resources/myanmar-one-year-on-internet-shutdown-imperils-human-rights-inmyanmar/ 136 https://myanmar-now.org/en/news/internet-ban-lifted-in-maungdaw-township 137 https://www.mmtimes.com/news/rakhine-chin-internet-restored-only-2g.html 138 https://web.facebook.com/FreeExpressionMyanmar/posts/3405547552892143 139 https://www.telenor.com/network-restrictions-in-myanmar-1-august-2020/ 140 https://en.unesco.org/news/myanmar-press-council-launches-media-guidelines-election-coverage 132 48