Myanmar Unblocks Some Banned Websites
Myanmar’s repressive government was allowing access to banned news websites Friday for the first time in years, including several operated by exiled dissidents. The unannounced move is the latest step taken by the Southeast Asian nation’s new leaders to boost hope, however faint, that authoritarian rule here could finally be easing. Censors this week unblocked the websites of international media outlets including the Voice of America and the British Broadcasting Corp., as well the Democratic Voice of Burma, Radio Free Asia and the video file-sharing site YouTube.
Since authorities introduced the Internet here about a decade ago, Myanmar—also known as Burma—has aggressively monitored online activities and routinely blocked websites seen as critical of the government.
It has also punished journalists with harsh jail terms; the Democratic Voice of Burma says about 25 journalists are currently detained in Myanmar, 17 of them its own. Many news websites have been blocked since 2007, when the military junta launched a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, but local Internet users have been able to circumvent the ban by using proxy servers.