A new Human Rights Myanmar report warns that major digital platforms failed to protect Myanmar’s independent media during the junta’s 2025-26 elections, enabling censorship, threats, and financial exclusion against exile-based journalism.
The report, released in May in partnership with the Institute for Press and Communication Management (IPCM), noted that after the 2021 coup forced many outlets into exile, independent Myanmar media became increasingly dependent on platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok. However, this reliance exposed journalists to “digital hostility” and opaque moderation systems during the junta-organised elections held between December 2025 and January 2026.
The report described the polls as a “sham election” widely rejected by the international community and regional bodies.
Among the report’s key findings, 69% of the surveyed media outlets said that online threats to their operations worsened in the lead-up to the elections, while 91% reported that their organizations experienced digital attacks during the electoral period.
Researchers said platforms frequently removed journalism documenting conflict and alleged military abuses. According to the report, every outlet surveyed had at least some content deleted by automated moderation systems; specifically, 76% of the outlets reported the deletion of journalistic photographs and 59% reported the loss of video content from their channels.
“One journalist said, ‘Really important news has been censored,’” the report noted.
The report argued that platforms failed to distinguish between graphic propaganda and legitimate reporting on war crimes and violence in Myanmar’s civil war.
“By deleting our conflict coverage, the platforms are penalising the witness and helping the murderer hide the evidence,” one editor told researchers.
Human Rights Myanmar also highlighted the collapse of effective appeals mechanisms. Notably, while 88% of outlets attempted to challenge content removals, 82% described the process as useless due to the lack of human review and contextual understanding.
The report further found that half of surveyed media outlets received no platform monetisation revenue, largely because exile media could not meet corporate registration requirements imposed by tech companies. As a result, many outlets faced significant financial hardship.
Women journalists faced particularly severe abuse, with 77% of respondents reporting technology-facilitated gender-based violence, such as harassment, deepfake imagery, and attacks targeting their families.
The report called on digital platforms to establish Myanmar-specific human moderation systems, protect public-interest journalism from arbitrary deletion and reform monetisation rules for exiled media outlets.
