ABSTRACT
After the transition to a quasi-civilian government in 2011, Myanmar transformed from a country with virtually no freedom of speech to one of the most open media environments in Southeast Asia. The Union Solidarity and Development Party government initiated reforms that unshackled the press and put internet access within reach of ordinary Myanmar, but the rosy picture grew more complicated under the National League for Democracy. Progress stagnated, and vaguely worded laws were used to prosecute journalists, activists and internet users, raising questions about the role and importance of free speech in Myanmar’s ongoing transition. The media landscape has since been upended by the February 2021 military coup, which has seen many outlets banned, new laws enacted to curb free speech and more than 130 journalists detained. However, ubiquitous internet access means that the military has been unable to revert to pre-2011 levels of control over journalism and free speech: independent outlets continue to report from abroad, using encrypted communications apps, citizen and undercover journalists and information gathered from social media.
