Regulation
In addition to the broad consensus on the need for professional training for journalists and
managers in Myanmar, there is similar motivation to revise the fairly restrictive media laws left
on the books from the previous regime. Such legislation includes the 1962 Printers and Publishers
Act and the 2004 Electronic Transaction Act. Te former law reinforces the registration
of all media outlets as well as prepress censorship practices. Te latter includes vaguely worded
statements prohibiting journalists from “distributing any information relating to secrets of
the security of the state.”23 Both laws have been heavily criticized by media in Myanmar as
tools to imprison journalists and restrict freedom of speech.
In the broadcast arena, still largely under state control, the MoI has taken a leading role in
drafting new pieces of legislation, including a new broadcast law, a public service media law,
and bills governing the flm industry and libraries. Separately, and much more controversially,
a presidential order in 2012 created the interim Press Council, an industry body formed with
a yearlong mandate to draft the new press law. All three existing media associations—the
Myanmar Journalists Association, Myanmar Journalists Union, and Myanmar Journalists
Network—are represented on the Press Council.
However, the Press Council began inauspiciously. Problems were related to oversight of the
body—the government initially wanted the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division to manage
the council—and the composition of the membership—ultimately only ten of the thirty
members were approved as government appointments. Tese issues were fnally resolved in
September 2012, and the drafting process began. Yet even as the Press Council was consulting
with local and international partners on the content of the press law, the MoI was preparing
its own competing bill, ironically called the Printers and Publishers Regulation Bill. Te Press
Council quickly condemned the MoI’s draft, noting that it ignored recommendations made
by the Press Council and included restrictions in the form of licensing and registration for all
print media (essentially amounting to post-press censorship). Te MoI interviewee, however,
indicated that the ministry was limiting its oversight to printing and publishing and leaving
the professional aspects of the law to the industry leaders. In early July 2013, the lower house of
parliament passed the MoI’s version of the bill, leading to calls by the Press Council to disband.
More recently, both bills were under consideration by parliament, and the MoI draft was approved
by both houses. Meanwhile, the upper house signed of on the Press Council’s version,
paving the way for a fnal legislative showdown over the status of the press law. How the law
balances the interests of the MoI and the media industry remains to be seen.
Additionally, interviewees noted the importance of a Freedom of Information (FOI) Law.
One observed, “Access to data will lead to good governance.” Others question both the current
capacity of national and local ofcials to implement an FOI law and the perceived threat such
legislation would have on the power base of certain politicians.