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Censorship rears its head in Myanmar By Roger Hamilton-Martin

UNITED NATIONS - One year after the government officially struck down laws obstructing free press in Myanmar, a parliamentary bill could allow previous censorship practices to re-emerge. When Thein Sein's Union Solidarity and Development party government ended the last of the censorship laws in August last year, many hailed a new era of free expression and an end to the pressures placed on journalists over the previous half century.

Still, many journalists are concerned by the state of media reform in the country. Currently, a publishing bill that critics say gives the Ministry of Information (MOI) overly broad powers to issue and revoke publication licenses has been passed by the lower house of parliament and is set for consideration by the upper house.

Myint Kyaw is secretary for the Myanmar Journalist Network

(MJN), which has been protesting the proposed bill, known as the Printing and Publishing Enterprise Bill. He told IPS that the MJN's main criticism of the bill was in its conception of a printer and publisher registry system, which would essentially allow a ministry-appointed registrar to issue or deny publication licenses and thus leave control over these licenses in the hands of the government.

This situation is reminiscent of when the ministry used to control journalists and editors through the threat of license revocation, Myint Kyaw described. Such a possibility, combined with the threat of imprisonment and aggression, would lead to self-censorship, particularly when speaking critically of the military or when investigating corruption, notably that of former dictators and their family businesses.

Myint Kyaw also spoke of the need for a law guaranteeing access to information and ensuring safety for journalists in conflict areas. Earlier in August, MJN also collected thousands of signatures from around Yangon, the country's former capital city, for a petition that demonstrated the public's discontent with the state of media reform.

The current parliamentary bill comes at a time when many human-rights groups remain critical of Myanmar's attitude towards the media. In June, the government banned Time magazine after it featured a piece on the radical Buddhist 969 movement.

"It's a disgraceful decision to ban the issue and indicates recidivism in official censorship in Burma [the former name for Myanmar]," David Mathieson, a senior Asia researcher with Human Rights Watch, told IPS.

Benjamin Ismail, head of Reporters Without Borders' Asia-Pacific desk, expressed a similar viewpoint. "The reflex of censoring news has not disappeared, but this is not a surprise since the government is composed in majority by the same persons who were already in power before 2011."

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Censorship rears its head in Myanmar

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London, July 3 (ANI): Iran's newly elected President, Hassan Rouhani, has expressed relatively progressive views about civil liberties, freedom of expression and the Internet in his first press conference.

According to Rouhani, social networking sites, such as Facebook, were a welcome phenomenon. He added that he opposed segregation of sexes in society and he would work to minimize censorship. He also mentioned Internet filtering is futile.

He further said that Iranians' freedoms and rights have been neglected.

Rouhani has promised to put the Islamic republic back on the path of moderation after eight acrimonious years under the outgoing president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

He accepted that the country is overshadowed by a specific interpretation of its Islamic character. He also said that due to an imbalance in the principles of the constitution, Iran is facing an imbalance.

When asked about internet filtering, Rouhani said some of the measures taken by the authorities to restrict users' access online are politically motivated. He said that he is concerned about an increased distrust between people and the state.

The Guardian reported that access to several websites is blocked in Iran, including Facebook and Twitter, but millions of Iranians use them via anti-filtering software or virtual private network (VPN) services.

Rouhani also reportedly pledged to minimize censorship of artistic and cultural works and said the state should provide them with security.

On the question of women wearing the hijab, with millions unhappy about the mandatory religious code in the country, Rouhani said he is against the crackdown against women with loose clothing. Rouhani added that he is against these actions mentioning 'a women without a hijab is not necessarily without virtue'.

In his interview with the Guardian, Rouhani said he opposed segregation of men and women and criticised the politicians who are against allowing women to enter stadiums to watch football matches along with men.

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Iran's President vows to soften rules on web censorship, sex discrimination and Islamic dress code