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Networked Communicators in Burma Fight for Democracy
Soe Myint, Mizzima News
Yogyakarta, Indonesia
November 4-7, 2007
Please note that photos have been removed from this presentation to make it small enough to upload to the internet
Status of Freedom of Expression in Burma
• Junta restricts all forms of information gathering and dissemination
• Publishing any unauthorized materials is a crime• Newspapers, magazines, radio and television are under tight
control of Junta
• Foreign journalists rarely get visas into country
• Internet is severely restricted and censored - yahoo, hotmail, you tube along with many independent news and political sites banned
• Less than 1% of population can use internet access, and most of them use in few - monitored - internet cafes in Rangoon and Mandalay
Networked CommunicatorsEmerging Independent Media in Burma
• Citizen journalists, bloggers, stringers
• Activists providing information and news
• Burma-focused news organizations based on bordering countries
• Overseas Burmese Radio Stations and Satellite Televisions
Means of Independent Communications
• Blogs• Websites• C-Box Forums• Mobile Phones• Satellite Phones• Proxy Servers• Secure Tunnels
• Using Encryption, Steganography
• Digital Cameras, Video Cameras
• CDs, Memory Sticks• Posters, Pamphlets,
Publications, Painting• Loop Holes in the
System (satellite dishes)
• People to People
Mizzima News’ Experiences• From Humble Beginnings in 1999,
Mizzima is a window into news and events in Burma
• Work between offices in and outside Burma
- Offices in India and Thailand- Units in Burma• Websites, (www.mizzima.com
)Blogs, Publications, On-line Pod- casting,
• Establishing Units in Burma and Strengthening information flows and access between inside and outside Burma
• Provide news and images to Burmese and non-Burmese (including Overseas Burmese radio stations and satellite televisions)
Mizzima’s Role in Recent Protests • The difference between 1998 uprising and 2007
uprising - media and technology• Civilian journalists and Mizzima stringers sending
out information and images of protests and crack down to outside Burma, using technology and small equipments
• Internet a major medium• Reaching out to international media, by providing
images and video footage including CNN, AFP, AP, Reuters and media agencies
Junta Crack-Down on Information Flows and Access
• Imposes curfew and bans public gatherings
• Soldiers killed scores of peoples, including a Japanese photo journalist, Kenji Nagai
• Then, Internet speed slowed down to prevent images going out • Cut off phone lines of journalists, politicians and activists• Blocks popular Burmese blogs • Whoever with cameras and phones were searched and seized• Finally, total internet shut-down
Shaping the Protests?
• Media play a role to shape the movement as a connecting point
• Media focused on Rangoon, not other parts of country
• Junta focused Rangoon for crack-down
Challenges• Exploring other means and ways other than
Junta-controlled internet and telecommunication
• Possible worst scenario of the show-down between Junta and Activists/Monks
• Safety of the communicators and stringers in Burma
• Need for financial, technical and material support for them