Facing the challenges of ensuring digital rights
Digital rights are human rights, participants in a nationwide forum were told this week. The Myanmar Digital Rights Forum discussed the issues raised by the increasing access, in recent years, of large numbers of Myanmar citizens to the internet, social media and mobile phones. The question of digital rights has emerged most dramatically with the series of prosecutions under section 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law, which has resulted in prison sentences for people who have expressed their views on social media, participants heard. But article 66(d) is only one of several issues, said Daw Ei Myat Noe Khin, an associate with the Phandeeyar technology laboratory, which helped organise the December 13-14 event. “Rights groups and media organisations have noted the threats to freedom of speech posed by the arrests under article 66(d) of Myanmar’s Telecommunications Law of journalists and ordinary citizens for Facebook posts. However, article 66(d) is only one of many issues that need to be addressed,” she said.
