The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) urged the Myanmar authorities on Wednesday to stop blocking websites ran by activists investigating the country's military and monitoring human rights violations
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd September, 2020) The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) urged the Myanmar authorities on Wednesday to stop blocking websites ran by activists investigating the country's military and monitoring human rights violations.
On Tuesday, the Myanmar Telecommunications Ministry blocked the Justice for Myanmar activist group's website for allegedly spreading misinformation.
"The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) urges the Myanmar authorities to be more transparent on their definition of 'fake news' and to ensure that they are not silencing critical voices ... Authorities cannot pick and choose what classifies as 'fake news' without a detailed report on what has been found as false and why. Government efforts to censor and block publications without explanation are detrimental to democracy and free speech," the IFJ said in a statement.
The Justice for Myanmar group's website was launched by a team of human rights activists earlier this year to investigate the security forces' crackdown on Rohingya Muslims in 2017.
The Myanmar authorities have blocked over 200 similar websites in the past several months.
The conflict in Myanmar's Rakhine state between the Rohingya and the Buddhist majority dates back to the 20th century. The central authorities and the Buddhist population consider the Rohingya to be undocumented immigrants from Bangladesh.
Tensions escalated in 2017 when Myanmar's military launched a major offensive on Rohingya villages and outposts in the Rakhine state after unidentified Islamic extremists attacked police and security posts. According to the United Nations, about 745,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since Myanmar's large-scale security forces campaign in 2017.
