From Yangon to the Borderlands: Independent Media on Myanmar’s Post-coup Front Line

Margarite Clarey, Crisis Group

Independent media outlets exiled from Myanmar play a vital role in reporting on the civil war to destruction wrought by natural disasters, while influencing the political culture of the resistance. But, as Crisis Group expert Margarite Clarey explains, mounting challenges jeopardise these organisations’ work

Since the Myanmar military overthrew the country’s democratically elected government in a coup in February 2021, northern Thailand has become an uneasy base for journalists seeking to operate beyond the junta’s reach. The military regime’s violent crackdown on independent media began immediately after the coup, with amendments to the country’s penal code criminalising reporting that “causes fear” or “spreads false news”. Soldiers went door to door searching for prominent reporters, while state broadcasters aired the names of those on the junta’s arrest list. More than 100 journalists were detained within the first three months of the coup. Some journalists chose to remain and report undercover, while those on the junta’s arrest list were forced into hiding, before fleeing into self-imposed exile across the Thai border. Many crossed into Mae Sot, a Thai border town that sits some 500km from Bangkok, 400km from Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon. Mae Sot is so close to the battlefield that gunshots, explosions and airstrikes can be heard during periods of heavy fighting.