More than 100 reporters in Burma are preparing to protest against laws seen as curbing free speech.

Lawmakers in Rangoon’s divisional parliament are demanding a wide-ranging review of rental contracts that they suspect were awarded at knockdown prices under the previous military-backed administration of President Thein Sein.

Burma rose 12 places in the 2017 World Press Freedom Index, amid larger global trends over the past year indicating “that media freedom is under threat now more than ever,” according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which has compiled the index annually since 2002.

Burma launched a new public transport system in Rangoon on Monday, for the first time introducing regular bus lines, timetables and salaries for drivers in a move that could transform the lives of some 5 million city dwellers.

The new journal, published by former USDP lawmaker "Bullet" Hla Swe, targets both the ruling NLD and its military-backed predecessor.

The revelation comes a day after the President's Office warned an unnamed media company -- believed to be Sky Net -- about attempting to bribe officials.