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Smoke and destruction following clashes between protesters and junta security forces in Myanmar's capital Yangon in mid-March 2021
Photo: Getty Images
When the military seized power in Myanmar on February 1, 2021, Aye Min Thant faced a life decision: for or against journalism.
"I knew that if I started reporting again, it would eventually become so dangerous that I would have to leave my country."
Aye Min Thant is 29, nonbinary
and grew up in Yangon, the former capital of Myanmar.
»What is happening there is not normal«, says Aye Min Thant, »this is not normal anywhere and it is important to fight against it.«
Fighting means, in Ayes' case, above all: researching and writing.
In 2020, Aye Min Thant was part of a team of reporters that won the Pulitzer Prize for reporting on the Rohingya genocide.
Even in 2022, when the generals behind the genocide seize power, Aye Min Thant does not hesitate to write down everything: about the street protests across the country, the grenades from the military, the hopes and the pain.
Most of the articles appear in »Frontier Myanmar« , plus assessments and interviews for international media houses and a detailed Twitter thread: »Good morning.
It's day three of the coup.
I slept three hours last night, but who needs sleep when you can also write.« You will never forget those first few days, says Aye Min Thant.
Shortly after the military coup, more and more media workers disappeared.
Anyone who reports on human rights violations by the military becomes a target themselves.
The Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ) in Myanmar now lists the second most jailed journalists in the world – after China.
"Myanmar has become one of the most dangerous countries for journalists," says Aye Min Thant.
Aye Min Thant himself had to change his place of residence several times, for example after a neighbor reported that men had come looking for Aye.
In March 2021
the military junta begins to ban several independent newspapers and television stations.
The office of the news site "Myanmar Now" was looted.
In May, Aye Min Thant's boss, the American journalist Danny Fenster, ends up in Insein prison.
Some reporters have reported being tortured, shot and injured while reporting.
Like many others, Aye Min Thant has to leave the country a few months after the coup - in order to stay alive, but also to avoid technical restrictions such as internet blocks
to be able to report.
Emotionally, the decision still weighs heavily today: "It feels like cheating."
From Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, Aye Min Thant continues to research and write for »Frontier Myanmar«.
The Frontier and other news sites rely on local people to get information and images.
Many of them are, in a sense, overnight
become so-called citizen journalists.
The belief in a better future for Myanmar drives many of the young people, says Aye Min Thant.
»If people had no ideals and hopes, there would be no more journalism in Myanmar.«
More than 2,150 people have already fallen victim to military violence since the coup.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners in Burma (AAPPB) also counts more than 11,000 prisoners.
Since the demonstrations are being suppressed with ever greater bloodshed, hardly any demonstrators dare to take to the streets.
'The situation is
much worse than a year ago when Myanmar was all the headlines,” says Aye Min Thant.
The fighting has spread across the country and has become more brutal.
July marked the first execution of the death penalty in Myanmar in more than 30 years.
And the military's intimidation tactics are having an effect: Many possible sources no longer dare to answer reporters, they just don't want to take any risks.
The fear of being spied on and endangering family and friends is too great.
Creativity and perseverance are required for media professionals like Aye Min Thant when it comes to researching information.
That takes time.
And fake news is often faster.
Although the military's propaganda sometimes seems clumsy, its way of spreading disinformation is well thought out.
"They understand exactly what emotions it takes to go viral," says Aye Min Thant.
"Stories" spread via social media are directed against resistance fighters from the so-called People's Defense Forces (PDFs), but also against members of the former ruling party or ethnic minorities.
keep reporters alive
Activist and women's rights activist Tin Tin Nyo talks about a reporter in Chin State who is currently being held.
The military portrayed him as a "terrorist" and distributed manipulated images of him.
A neighbor delivered him.
"We're trying to help him in any way we can, we don't want him to be beaten to death," says Tin Tin Nyo.
She is director of Burma News International (BNI), an ethnic media network.
Also
she is currently working from Thailand.
Their main task is to keep reporters alive in the ethnic regions.
literally.
"We have no trust in the legal system, but with a lawyer we can at least get information about what's next for the reporter." There are currently many cases like this.
In addition to legal assistance, BNI is trying to organize financial resources and technical equipment.
In both cases, the organizations depend on international help.
Internet blockades are to be circumvented with satellite telephones and power banks, and surveillance and thus imprisonment are to be prevented.
Security is the biggest challenge, says a reporter working for BNI in the west of the country.
»Often we can't even take the bare essentials with us when we report from the ground: no telephone, no cameras or recording equipment.
There are controls everywhere, and often we don't even get close
close enough to the armed conflicts.«
Which is worse - internet or no internet?
Access to information is not only made more difficult physically, but also digitally.
Since the coup, the NGO Access Now has been monitoring internet shutdowns across the country.
In Sagaing alone, one of the regions hardest hit by armed conflict, the internet is blocked in 26 areas.
This has a direct impact on human rights abuses, says Wai Phyo Myint, a policy analyst for Access Now.
The atrocities of the military would remain unseen without the Internet, important information could not be passed on: where are fighting taking place, where are controls?
Where is medical care available?
Added to this is the psychological effect of such blockages.
Not having access to information is insecure and isolated.
"With the internet blockades, the military are destroying a sense of connection and hope," says Wai Phyo Myint.
In areas with a functioning internet, the military uses social platforms to threaten violence, spread disinformation and find out where suspected adversaries are located.
“If you're online, they'll monitor and track you.
When you're offline, you're cut off from everything you need to resist," says Wai Phyo Myint.
According to this, 85 to 90 percent of the telecommunications sector belongs to companies in the military or cooperation partners.
According to a Reuters report, the military is also installing Chinese-made surveillance cameras with facial recognition software.
That's why it's important to arm activists, journalists and socially disadvantaged groups digitally, says Htaike Htaike Aung, co-founder of MIDO, one of the leading digital rights organizations in Myanmar.
With disposable mobile phones and encryption software, such as the now illegal VPN servers, names and whereabouts are to be protected.
"Immediately after the coup, we knew that we not only needed a movement on the streets, but also in the digital space," says Htaike Htaike Aung.
It's a dangerous paradox: disinformation and online digital security gaps can cost lives in Myanmar.
But without the Internet there is no resistance.
Human rights violations by the military are increasing as attention dwindles, the civil war is becoming bloodier, and the humanitarian situation is deteriorating.
Journalism in Myanmar is not just a matter of hope.
It is a matter of life and death.
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