Burma Cracks Down on Memes Making Fun of the Military

Burma cracks down on FB, illustration, K. Wong

Chaw Sandi Tun (a.k.a. Chit Thamee), a 25-year-old NLD supporter and Facebook user, did what many of us do on a daily basis: She shared a meme online. But instead of collecting Likes, she may be collecting a jail sentence. On October 12, at half past ten, the young woman was brought to Bahan Police Station in Rangoon, then transported to Maubin Police Station, according to a Facebook post by her friend. Sandi Tun was arrested in Rangoon; she's a resident of Maubin Township.

The two-column meme shows NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi at a public talk in one panel, the current commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing and his troops in another. The comparison highlights the similarity between the colors of Suu Kyi's sarong and the general's uniform. The text on the image reads, "They like the color of Mother Suu's sarong so much they're wearing it." Whether Sandi Tun created the image herself or was merely reposting was unclear.

The insult stings because suggesting a man should wear a woman's sarong amounts to accusing him of cowardice.

Pathein-based Southwestern Military Command brought the charges against Sandi Tun, according to Myanmar Times. She was initially charged with Section 34 of Burma's Electronic Transactions Law, but new charges were later added under Section 66 of the Telecommunications Law, making her ineligible for bail.

Sandi Tun's arrest was followed by that of Patrick Khum Jaa Lee, the husband of renowned activist May Sabe Phyu. He was charged with Section 66. A Lt-Col for the Burma Army brought the suit against Khum Jaa Lee for sharing a meme showing "a man wearing a Kachin-style longyi stepping on a portrait of Commander-in-Chief Senior-Gen Min Aung Hlaing," The Irrawaddy reported. Khum Jaa Lee claimed he didn't share the post, according to a report from 7Day Daily, but he was denied bail.

Coming just weeks before the National Election, the two cases raise serious questions about the military faction's willingness to respect the Burmese Netizens' right to self-expression on social media.

The Letter of the Law
Section 34 (d) of Burma's Electronic Transactions Law details the following as a punishable offense:

Creating, modifying or altering of information or distributing of information created, modified or altered by electronic technology to be detrimental to the interest of or to lower the dignity of any organization or any person.

The draconian law was enacted in 2004, when the country was ruled by the military-run State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). In its original form, those convicted of offenses listed under Section 34 faced up to five years in jail, a fine, or both. But it was amended in 2014, to replace the previous penalty clause with "a monetary fine of 5,000,000 to 10,000,000 Kyats. If the fine is not paid, then a jail term of minimum one year to maximum three years."

Those previously charged with the Electronic Transactions Law included prominent Burmese blogger Nay Phone Latt, dissident comedian Zarganar, and 88-generation student leader Ko Ko Gyi.

Section 66 of the Telecommunications Law, enacted in 2013, states: 

Whoever commits any of the following acts, on conviction be punished with imprisonment for a term extending to a maximum of three years, and shall be liable to fine or both ... (d) Using a telecommunication network to extort, threaten, obstruct, defame, disturb, inappropriately influence or intimidate ...

The Crackdown Spawns More Memes
The authorities' heavy-handed approach to stop the memes may be having the opposite effect. On Facebook, some users continue to share the meme featuring General Min Aung Hlaing, some cheekily writing in Burmese, "I'm just warning you NOT to share this post."

Supporters of Chaw Sandi Tun created a meme that reads "We are all Chit Thamees" (a reference her nickname) and began circulating. A Facebook page titled "Free Chaw Sandi Tun" recently came online. It's now 8,000-member-strong.

Selective Enforcement
As news of Chaw Sandi Tun's and Patrick Khum Jaa Lee's arrests spread, some Facebook users recalled that the wife of current Information Minister U Ye Htut once shared a Photoshopped image of Aung San Suu Kyi, made to appear as if she was wearing a headscarf and participating in a Muslim award ceremony. The image, whatever its origin, was evidently an attempt to smear Suu Kyi as a Muslim supporter in a climate rift with anti-Muslim sentiments. U Ye Htut ended up publicly apologizing for his wife's action. No one was charged under Section 34 (d) in this incident.

Under the same Electronic Transactions Law, Section 33 lists the following as an offense punishable by a minimum prison term of five years, maximum seven years (Originally, it called for seven to 15 years, but the clause was amended in 2014):

Doing any act detrimental to the security of the State or prevalence of law and order or community peace and tranquility or national solidarity or national economy or national culture.

As phrased, the law could have easily been pressed into service to punish religious hardliners like Wirathu, who circulated false rumors that fueled city-wide riots. Yet, it was never used in such a manner.

The selective application of the law against the two social media users also bear some resemblance to the previous cases of Burmese columnist Htin Lin Oo and bar manager Phil Blackwood. Both were arrested, charged, and convicted under Section 295, a penal code designed to punish acts of religious insults. Htin Lin Oo's crime was to point out, in a literary talk, the follies of the Buddhist hardliners' obsession with racial purity when Buddha himself was not Burmese. Blackwood's crime was to use a promotional poster depicting Buddha wearing a pair of earphones.

Section 295 gives the religious hardliners a powerful weapon against any critics and the means to silence them. Sections 34 and 66 may serve the same purpose for the still-powerful military hardliners to crush signs of dissents on social media.