Myanmar bucks slide in Asia on press freedom

Myanmar’s “paper revolution” has brought a sharp improvement in freedom of information in the former pariah state, bucking a general deterioration across much of Asia, a report said on Wednesday.

“There are no longer any journalists or cyber dissidents in the jails of the old military dictatorship,” RSF (Reporters Sans Frontieres) said.

The blossoming of media freedom stands in stark contrast to worsening repression elsewhere in Asia, according to the Paris-based media watchdog.

China ranked 173rd and Hong Kong came in at 58 in the index, down four places from year ago. North Korea (178th), Vietnam (172nd) and Laos (168th) also languish near the bottom of the table as they “refuse to grant their citizens the freedom to be informed”, RSF said.

“Kim Jong-un’s arrival at the head of the Hermit Kingdom has not in any way changed the regime’s absolute control of news and information,” it noted, referring to state control by Pyongyang.