MYANMAR: Junta Propaganda App Ditched by Apple and Google

Posted by Asia Views | May 9, 2022 | 0 |

Irrawaddy-May 7

The junta’s state propaganda Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV) app has been removed from Apple’s App Store and the Google Play Store on Thursday, a day after it was launched. On Wednesday, the junta held its MRTV Media Worldwide Mobile Satellite Data Application Services MRTV app and web launch ceremony in Naypyitaw, aimed to live stream the regime’s broadcast content via international satellites and distribute articles from its state-run media. Justice for Myanmar (JFM), a group of activists that monitors the regime’s businesses and networks, released a statement on Thursday calling on Google and Apple to ban the app as it was a “part of the junta’s psychological warfare campaign against the people of Myanmar”. JFM reported that MRTV apps were developed by US company Apps Web Social LLC, which listed them on the App Store and Play Store on behalf of the junta. On Thursday, the new MRTV website, which is hosted by the US-based company GoDaddy.com, also went down. MRTV is the junta’s propaganda unit run by the Ministry of Information, led by retired major general Maung Maung Ohn, who is sanctioned by the EU. Last year, Facebook removed military-run businesses like Mytel, one of four telecom operators in Myanmar and blocked junta-controlled media pages, such as Tatmadaw True News, Myawaddy TV and MRTV. YouTube also removed five military-run television networks such as MRTV, Myawaddy Media, MWD Variety and MWD Myanmar on March 2021. Read more at:

https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-junta-propaganda-app-ditched-by-apple-and-google.html

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EXTRICATING NDONESIAN CHILDREN FROM ISIS INFLUENCE ABROAD

Indonesia urgently needs to revisit the possibility of repatriating the neediest of its young citizens stranded abroad, whose families had earlier joined ISIS. Most of these children are in camps in northern Syria but there are also small numbers in the Philippines, Afghanistan and Iraq. “Extricating Indonesian Children from ISIS Influence Abroad”, the latest report from the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) argues that the government could begin by bringing back small groups of unaccompanied children under ten years of age, who pose minimal security risk and are most vulnerable to deteriorating conditions in the camps.“The problem is that health and security conditions are worsening by the day in the Syrian camps, and the children are growing older,” says Dyah Kartika, IPAC analyst. “They need access to schools, a nurturing environment, and medical attention. If the government waits too long, the children will be further exposed to ISIS ideology.” The new report examines a 2019 list of Indonesians in camps and prisons run by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The Indonesian government has been trying to verify their citizenship, but with pseudonyms, misspellings and bad transliterations, it is a daunting task. At the time the data was collected, between March and June 2019, there were 555 Indonesians in SDF camps and prisons, including 367 children. Among the children, approximately 277 were under the age of ten and 34 were unaccompanied. In June 2021, there are fewer than ten children who are both unaccompanied and under the age of ten that could be prioritized for return. Bringing back children of ISIS families is no easy task. The report analyses the main challenges faced by the Indonesian government. These include definitional issues, bureaucratic competition, the difficulty of verifying nationality, evaluating the toll of exposure to conflict, assessing security risk, and finding relatives or others willing to provide care once the children are returned. In addition, COVID has meant stringent restrictions on travel, placing further obstacles in the way of repatriation. There are several models for rehabilitation of children exposed to violent extremism in Indonesia that could be modified to accommodate the needs of children repatriated from abroad. The report examines these models and argues that the government does not need to have every detail of rehabilitation programs in place before it starts extricating children from ISIS influence. It can start by bringing back the most vulnerable children and then modify programs as needed.

“It’s important that the government see these children as victims” says Dyah. “They deserve a chance to be children again.”

MYANMAR: Junta Propaganda App Ditched by Apple and Google

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