Junta-controlled police in northern Myanmar have forbidden local relief groups from posting social media updates on violent crime investigations, threatening legal consequences as urban crime surges across the Kachin State capital.

The verbal directive, issued to volunteer rescue and social aid groups since August, prohibits sharing photos, videos, or case details from crime scenes without prior police authorization. 

While ordinary traffic accidents, drownings, and fires remain exempt, the restriction severely hampers the operations of volunteer groups transporting bodies and assisting victims.

“We need to get permission from the police first for sensitive cases,” said a female volunteer from a local social relief organization, adding that teams now fear taking photographs while responding to emergency calls.

Residents rely heavily on social media for real-time safety updates amid a sharp rise in gang robberies and knife-point muggings since the 2021 military coup. 

Local media group KNG documented at least 50 major violent crime incidents in Myitkyina in 2025 alone.

Rights monitors and residents suspect the crackdown aims to obscure the regime's failure to maintain law and order and mask police incompetence in urban areas.