YANGON:
Media groups reacted with dismay on Saturday over a proposed law to
regulate the press that has raised fears the government could be rolling
back on promises to loosen its grip on the long-shackled industry.
The
printing and publishing bill, drafted by the ministry of information,
has listed a number of restrictions — including reporting on clashes
between ethnic groups and producing articles that “violate” the
junta-drafted constitution.
The proposed legislation,
which also laid out strict penalties of up to six months in jail for
those operating without valid accreditation, came as a shock for the
country’s interim press council, which is drafting a separate media law.
“It’s
an annoyance for us. We think the penalties are much harsher than
necessary,” council member Zaw Thet Htwe told AFP. Myanmar has surprised
observers with a raft of reforms under a quasi-civilian government that
replaced outright military rule in 2011, including holding elections
that swept democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi into parliament.
Pre-publication
censorship rules were scrapped in August — ending draconian controls
that applied to everything from newspapers to song lyrics — and the
country recently announced it would allow private newspapers to publish
daily for the first time in decades from April.
But a
notice in the state-run New Light of Myanmar on Saturday said only eight
out of 17 applications for daily licences had so far been approved.
Eleven Media Group, one of the country’s larger newspaper publishers,
said its application had been rejected on technical grounds.
“We
cannot accept any pressure put on us in connection with the publishing
of a daily newspaper,” said the group’s chief Than Htut Aung in an
editorial dated Friday.
“If the recently published
printing bill by the ministry of information is enacted, the independent
news media will surely face similar difficulties,” he said, vowing to
“categorically oppose this media bill”.
The draft printing
legislation, which was published in Burmese language state media on
Wednesday, also drew criticism from media freedom campaigners.
source: The News
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