Technology puts Myanmar protests in international eye

Myanmar's swelling protests are in the global spotlight with the help of hi-tech gadgets in the era of YouTube -- a stark contrast to the 1988 uprising in the pre-Internet age.

The peaceful protests, led by Buddhist monks, have turned into the biggest mass movement since the military regime violently quelled student-led protests in 1988, killing at least 3,000 people.

Those massacres happened far from the world's view because Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, was then sealed off from the outside world before the age of the Internet and cell phones.

But 20 years later, monk-led rallies have received wide coverage in the international media thanks to the Internet, mobile phones and digital cameras, which have proved more powerful than the junta's censors.

"The technology is making a huge difference. Now everyone in the world can know what is happening in Burma via the Internet," said Sein Win, managing editor of Mizzima News, an India-based news group run by exiled dissidents,

"It is a reality of globalisation. Whether the junta likes it or not, the government cannot isolate itself from the international community," Sein Win said.

Since the protest broke out in Yangon on August 19 after a massive hike in fuel prices, the government has tightened Internet access across the nation that has been under military rule since 1962.

But some 200 Internet cafes in Yangon have continued to operate, drawing tech-savvy university students who have transmitted pictures and video clips taken on mobile phones and digital cameras around the clock.

"Young people know how to get around Internet controls. Not just from Yangon, we received pictures and video clips from Mandalay," said Aung Din, policy director of US Campaign for Burma, a Washington-based democracy lobbying group. Mandalay is the second largest city after Yangon.

Aung Din, who joined the 1988 uprising, said he was overwhelmed by the difference between now and then.

"In 1988, we did not have the Internet or even phones to get our message out of Burma. Nobody in the international community knew about the 1988 uprising. But the world knows about the current protests. It's just amazing," Aung Din said.

The California-based Mandalay Gazette said it has received dozens of pictures and video clips every day from Myanmar.

"Students and even monks are using mobile phones and digital cameras. Everyone can send us pictures. In a way, the Internet makes everybody equal," said one US-based editor who declined to be named.

The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders has called Myanmar a "paradise for censors" and listed the military-ruled nation as one of the world's most restrictive for press freedoms.

The military government attempts to block almost every website that carries news or information about the Southeast Asian country, and even bars access to web-based email.

© 2006 AFP
This story is sourced direct from an overseas news agency as an additional service to readers. Spelling follows North American usage, along with foreign currency and measurement units.