Myanmar’s Former Minister of Information arrested over anti-military Facebook posts

Myanmar civilians protest the coup carried out by the Myanmar military | Source: Wikimedia Commons

Retired Myanmar Lieutenant Colonel Ye Htut was arrested on October 28, 2023 for spreading misinformation on Facebook. He allegedly violated Section 505(A) of Myanmar’s penal code, which strictly prohibits posting statements “inciting” criticism of Myanmar's military government. Section 505, which outlaws actions against the military, invokes a prison sentence of up to three years.

Ye Htut, currently 64, served as the presidential spokesman from 2013 to 2016 and the Minister of Information from 2014 to 2016. He posted frequently on Facebook following the 2021 coup and leading up to his detainment, earning him the title of “Facebook Minister.” In Myanmar, those who publish comments that “cause the public to hate the government and the military” face the risk of prosecution under the country’s limitations on speech. Earlier in October, two high-ranking Myanmarese generals were sentenced to life in prison for corruption after being found guilty of accepting bribes from foreign traders and of illegally possessing foreign currencies in an attempt to benefit from exchange rates.

The Tatmadaw, Myanmar’s military, gained political power in a coup in February 2021 that detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The coup likely occurred as a result of discontent with democratic reforms that threatened military-owned monopolies, which are crucial to upholding military power. Since the Tatmadaw’s takeover, civilians have faced harsher punishment for statements deemed offensive to the government. In January 2022, the Tatmadaw announced antiterrorism efforts through laws prohibiting the spread of anti-military statements on social media. From February to September 2022, more than 1300 people were arrested for social media comments deemed in violation of the law.

Htut is the latest victim of a trend in which Telegram accounts sympathetic to the Tatmadaw expose the personal information of individuals that they claim are “disloyal” to the government. An officer of the Yangon Regional Military Command reported his Facebook comments after pro-military Telegram accounts doxxed Htut’s address and demanded his arrest. Following his arrest, Htut was taken to Insein prison in Yangon, Myanmar.

Zaw Win of Fortify Rights, a Southeast Asian human rights group, described the Myanmar military as intolerant to any form of criticism, citing the recent social-media related arrests. “[the Tatmadaw] never lets off the people who oppose them,” Win said. “They will take action no matter what.”