Myanmar military clamps down on media
Myanmar's military has revoked licenses for five media outlets amidst widespread protest against the February coup d'état.
According to Reuters, this was announced on state MRTV television last night.
The five independent media organisations are Mizzima, Myanmar Now, 7Day, DVB and Khit Thit Media.
According to the Voice of America, the ban covered all conventional publications, television as well as digital platforms.
Mizzima responded today by calling the military government "illegitimate" and vowed to continue publishing on its website, Facebook pages, digital TV channels, YouTube and social media platforms.
"Mizzima, as an independent media, continues to fight against the military coup and for the restoration of democracy and human rights in Myanmar by publishing and broadcasting through multimedia platforms," said the organisation.
In 2015, Myanmar held its first openly contested elections since 1990.
However, this democratic system was dismantled on Feb 1, following the coup led by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.
Around 400 Myanmar MPs have been placed under arrest, along with Buddhist monks, activists and intellectuals.
At least 50 people in ensuing protests nationwide, which had mostly been peaceful, are at the hands of state actors.
Response from Asean, currently led by Brunei and Malaysia, has been meek.
However, Indonesia's foreign minister Retno Marsudi has been pushing for Asean to engage Myanmar's military to put an end to the violence.
This has been met by criticism from the pro-democracy movement in Myanmar which has demanded Asean not recognise the military government.
