(August 20, 2012) Myanmar abolished direct censorship of the media Monday in the
most dramatic move yet toward allowing freedom of expression in the long-repressed
nation. But related laws and practices that may lead to self-censorship raise doubt
about how much will change. The Information Ministry, which has long controlled what
can be printed, made the announcement on its website on Monday. Under the new rules,
journalists will no longer have to submit their work to state censors before publication
as they for almost half a century. However, the same harsh laws that have allowed
Myanmar's rulers to jail, blacklist and control the media in the name of protecting
national security remain unchanged and on the books. For decades, this Southeast
Asian nation's reporters had been regarded as among the most restricted in the world,
subjected to routine state surveillance, phone taps and censorship so intense that
independent papers could not publish on a daily basis. President Thein Sein's reformist
government has significantly relaxed media controls over the last year, though, allowing
reporters to print material that would have been unthinkable during the era of absolute
military rule - like photographs of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.