Reporting from the Darkness: Journalism and Media in Myanmar 2023 Q4 and Annual Report Fourth quarter of 2023 Arrests and detention Four male journalists and a security guard working for news organisation were arrested in different parts of Myanmar from October to December 2023, reflecting the continuing pattern of arrests of journalists and news workers since the February 2021 coup. One female documentary filmmaker was also arrested during this quarter. Among the four arrested journalists was Htet Aung, a reporter for the Rakhine-based Development Media Group. He was arrested on 29 October while covering an almsgiving event in the Thidingyut festival in Sittwe, the capital of western Rakhine state. Security forces from military security affairs, soldiers, and police forced him to show them the location of the Development Media Group office, then raided the newsroom. They sealed off the news agency's office after seizing several cameras and laptops, and arrested its night guard, Soe Win Aung. Other news staffers went into hiding after their colleagues' arrest. Two days after his arrest, Htet Aung was charged with violating Section 65 of the Telecommunications Law, which punishes “extorting, coercing, restraining wrongfully, defaming, disturbing, causing undue influence or threatening any person using a telecommunications network.” This arrest and raid took place at a time when news work was becoming more difficult in the context of rising tensions, especially in the latter part of 2023, between the Arakan Army, an ethnic Rakhine armed organisation, and the Myanmar armed forces. Hostilities between the two resumed on 13 November, marking the collapse of an informal ceasefire established in November 2022. Even before fighting resumed, journalists in the state were being subjected to more security checks while traveling. Rakhine regional authorities had also circulated a list of individuals, including journalists, wanted for a mix of security-related crimes. Independent reporting has long been a challenge in the restive state even before the coup - for instance around issues such as the plight of the minority Rohingya. Restrictions on access to 5