The Radio Free Asia (RFA) Burmese language service officially announced its closure on Friday, marking a significant loss for independent journalism in Myanmar where press freedom is already severely restricted by the regime, which seized power in a 2021 military coup.
“A diverse media landscape is especially crucial during this period of military rule. This is very sad news,” a journalist from Myanmar now working in Chiang Mai, Thailand told DVB on the condition of anonymity. An unknown number of independent Myanmar news agencies relocated to Thailand in 2021, where they now operate from exile.
The RFA shutdown follows U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order issued on March 14, which led to a notice of funding termination for the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM). It oversees several outlets, including Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), and RFA.
“We inform you that due to funding uncertainties, the RFA Burmese Service will cease operations. We sincerely thank our audience for their years of trust and support,” Kyaw Kyaw Aung, the head of RFA Burmese language service, shared in a social media post on Friday.
Since its inception in 1997, the RFA Burmese service has covered pivotal moments in Myanmar’s history, including the 2007 “Saffron Revolution” street protests led by Buddhist monks against military rule and the 2010-21 “democratic reforms” which began with the release of Aung San Suu Kyi from her prolonged house arrest and ended with the coup on Feb. 1, 2021 and her re-arrest.
“The dismantling of RFA is an unjustifiable decision that risks turning entire regions into true information black holes,” said Thibaut Bruttin, the director general of the France-based press freedom organization Reporters sans frontières (RSF), in a statement issued April 10.
The VOA Burmese language service has also gone silent since March 16, pending legal and financial clarification in order to resume its operations. The Independent Press Council Myanmar (IPCM) states that roughly 44 percent of funding for independent media from Myanmar comes from international organizations and foreign governments, such as the U.S.
Tachileik News Agency announced the suspension of its operations via social media on May 3 – World Press Freedom Day. While no official reason for the closure was given, it is widely believed to be due to funding uncertainties. Founded in 2009, Tachilek News Agency was one of the few region-based independent outlets which survived the revocation of its publication license after the 2021 coup.
Fifteen media organizations, including DVB, have had their publication licenses revoked by the regime in Myanmar since 2021. The IPCM, which also operates in neighbouring Thailand to support independent media in exile, reported on May 3 that a total of seven journalists have been killed in Myanmar since 2021 with 40 journalists, seven of them women, remaining imprisoned in Myanmar.
The RSF 2025 World Press Freedom Index ranks Myanmar 169 out of 180 countries, near the bottom of the list with the least amount of media freedoms. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says Myanmar is among the three worst jailers of journalists globally, alongside China and Israel.
