Burma now ranks 176th out of 180 countries in RSF’s index. Last year, the nation ranked 140th on the index and had declined 36 spots following the military coup on 1 February 2021. RSF developed a new methodology to compile the index, with five new indicators to measure press freedom: the political context, legal framework, economic context, sociocultural context, and security. In this last category, Myanmar scores the lowest ‘score’ in the world.

Since the military coup, the junta has revoked eleven local media licenses, and some news media have been forced to suspend their reporting. More than 160 journalists have been arrested or face criminal charges, and more than 50 of them remain in jail. Three journalists have been killed. The National Unity Government (NUG), the parallel government, released a statement calling on the international community to take action against the junta for journalists who have been arrested, tortured, and killed while doing their jobs inside the country.

Unsurprisingly the Myanmar junta has not said anything about today’s global media freedom day, but last Friday the junta spokesperson general Zaw Min Tun blasted banned exiled media outlets as “ball lifters” for the civilian government in exile. While they may be laughable insults, they help feed a much more dangerous dynamic. A new military-aligned rebel group called Thway Thauk’ or ‘Blood Brothers’, which has killed at least eight people in Mandalay, said recently that it would kill journalists and their family members.