The government has accused independent media agencies of spreading "fake news" and misinformation about Myanmar's political and economic situation.
This statement was originally published on eng.mizzima.com on 15 January 2024.
The Myanmar junta is fighting with bombs and bullets. But it is also fighting with words.
The Myanmar media and social media landscape can be challenging to navigate.
Last week, the junta’s Information Minister Maung Maung Ohn accused independent media agencies of spreading fake news and misinformation about Myanmar’s ongoing political and economic situation, according to a report by Development Media Group (DMG).
At a forum on “State Building and the Role of Media,” Maung Maung Ohn said “destructive elements use media outlets to spread fake news and misinformation,” and that they are “poisoning the minds of people with fake news and misinformation.” The majority of news reports published on Facebook are lop-sided, and the Information Ministry is thus taking various measures to ensure the flow of correct information, and fight fake news and misinformation, he said.
Quick to rap Maung Maung Ohn’s remarks were journalists in Myanmar, who say the regime is just trying to conceal its human rights violations and war crimes, and control people’s right to information.
“Media always monitors and reports the human rights violations of the military council. And the regime has used media outlets and social media accounts it controls to spread propaganda that those reports are fake news,” a local female journalist from Rakhine State told the local media outlet.
Hundreds of journalists have been arrested since the February 2021 coup and around 50 journalists are still behind bars in prisons across Myanmar. The regime has also issued warrants for arrests of dozens of journalists as it continues to crack down on independent media in Myanmar.
The junta is hitting out using words through junta media and social media, particularly Telegram channels. For example, the junta-controlled Kyemon and Myanma Alin newspapers have devoted many column inches to responding to news reports published by internationally recognised news agencies such as RFA, VOA and Myanmar Now, claiming those reports are fake news, DMG reports.
By and large, Myanmar’s independent media attempts to maintain reporting standards and, at the same time, debunk junta misinformation when necessary. The junta minister’s recent comments are a reminder that the pen remains as mighty as the sword.
