Kyaw Moe Thu, from Buthidaung Township, Rakhine State similarly stated that, “Right to education is part of my life. But now, I cannot study because there is no internet. I will grow older each day. I am losing hope gradually… Without education, the people will be tempted to use violent methods.” Unsurprisingly, all ten interviewees from Myanmar, when asked what they would do if they get back internet access in Rakhine and Chin State responded that they would resume online learning. Meanwhile, the six interviewees from Bangladesh said that they have already resumed their education after internet access was restored by the Bangladesh government in August 2020. RYA members at the time of writing, expressed concern that recent gang violence in the camps could be used by the Bangladeshi authorities to revoke their access to the internet and once again disrupt their quest for education. News and Misinformation Historically, under the military junta, news and information in Myanmar was tightly controlled. Press freedom was practically non-existent for more than five decades, under the Ministry of Information’s Press Scrutiny and Registration Division’s censorship. Myanmar media outlets were predominantly state controlled and served as a mouthpiece for the regime, disseminating propaganda. Reporters Without Borders ranked Myanmar 174th out of 178 in its Press Freedom Index (ahead of just Iran, Turkmenistan, North Korea, and Eritrea) as recently as 2010.117 However, by ending state censorship on traditional and electronic media,118 dissolving the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division, and electing a civilian government, it seemed as if Myanmar’s journalists would be free to report and people would gain ability to freely access news and information. Restrictions were lifted on 30,000 internet sites, including blocked international news sites such as BBC, Radio Free Asia, Voice of America, and critical outlets like Democratic Voice of Burma and Irrawaddy, allowing Myanmar users to gain access to political content unimaginable in the previous era. The telecommunications liberalization also meant that users could readily and 109 Myanmar interview 8. 110 Myanmar interview 3. 111 Myanmar interview 5. Name changed. 112 Myanmar interview 1. 113 Bangladesh interview 6. 114 Bangladesh interview 4. 115 Myanmar interview 9. Bangladesh interview 3. 116 117 “Press Freedom Index 2010,” Reporters without Borders, https://web.archive.org/web/20101129195350/http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2010,1034.html. 118 “Burma Abolishes Media Censorship,” BBC News, August 20, 2012, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-19315806. 27