Yangon, June 30 (IANS) Myanmar is tightening restrictions on the press following its coverage of the unrest in the country, a media watchdog has said.
The government has reacted in a manner to “what it regards as the excessive liberties the media are taking”, Mizzima News quoted the Reporters Without Borders as saying.
It does not know how to assist the media in the new, rapidly emerging political and economic environment, the watchdog said Friday.
Myanmar’s Rakhine state was hit by ethnic unrest last month.
“Modernization and liberalization of the media are preconditions for its (Myanmar’s) democratization,” it said.
The group said the domestic and international media have been subjected to pressure by the government for its coverage of the sectarian unrest, including attacks on reporters.
The government has initiated a legal action against the weekly Snapshot journal for publishing a photo of a woman who was raped and murdered in the state in May.
The group urged that the legal action against the journal should be dropped and the suspension of its publishing license be revoked.
