Press censorship
One of the world’s most closed regimes, Myanmar, abolished press censorship in September to help bring in reforms.
According to NBC News, this is the latest in a series of huge economic and political reforms by the quasi-civilian regime, and marks a U-turn from the oppressive policies of the military, that ran Myanmar for almost 50 years until March 2011.
The military government’s censors not only kept tight control over the media, but monitored every song, cartoon, book and piece of art for subversive content.
After lifting some restrictions on publications in June last year, the authorities extended press freedom to the remaining 80 political and six religious journals.
In 2011-12, the international news media advocacy group Reporters Without Borders ranked Myanmar at 169th out of 179 countries when it came to press freedom.
Addressing the World Economic Forum in Bangkok earlier in the month, famed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said, ‘We just want to improve the state of Burma’.
