“It is evident that Michael Kyaw Myint used a telecommunications network to post libellous writings about the chief minister of Yangon.”

Burma’s notorious online defamation law remains the tool of choice for powerful people in the country who seek to punish those who are trying to hold them accountable, and the amendment of the law in August has had “no discernible impact” on this, says a new report by the rights groups Free Expression Myanmar.

Burma’s lower house of parliament today approved a bill granting the government power to oversee public misuse of the Internet.

Critics have accused the NLD-led government of over-promising and under-delivering on legislative reform.

Hundreds of party faithful rallied at a staging grounds in Taungoo on Saturday morning in a show of support for beleaguered State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, the National League for Democracy’s longtime figurehead.

The decision marks the end of a four-month ordeal that began when The Voice Daily duo were arrested for a satirical column lampooning Burma’s military.