In THe NEws

Internet freedom in Myanmar declined dramatically, as the government ramped up its censorship ahead of elections expected in November 2020.

Myanmar, with election cycle dominated by digital platforms because of virus constraints, has the worst decline in internet freedom across the world.

An EU-funded voting application in Myanmar has come under heavy criticism for inciting “racial and religious vilification” in the country by profiling candidates’ ethnicity and beliefs, using derogatory terminology to designate those of Rohingya descent.

Online and offline hate speech targeting Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims has reared its head in the run-up to national elections in November, as some candidates and others target the largely disenfranchised and despised ethnic minority group to gain support from voters.

I ett öppet brev till IDEAS chef Kevin Casas-Zamora uttrycker sju svenska organisationer sin starka oro över den app och den databas som ingår i det samarbete som International IDEA bedriver med Myanmars valmyndighet.

Efter kraftig kritik lämnar Stockholmsbaserade IDEA samarbetet kring den mobilapp som inför valet i Myanmar bland annat listat rohingyakandidaters etnicitet som ”bengali”.

A Myanmar election app backed by foreign funding, including an organization supported by the Canadian government, is “clearly discriminatory” toward the country’s persecuted Rohingya population, the former head of a United Nations fact-finding mission says.

With under a month until the election, controversy is swirling amid criticisms over the mVoter 2020 app, a mobile app intended to educate voters on candidates and parties developed by International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) under the EU funded STEP Democracy programme.

Für die Wahlen in Myanmar, die am 8. November stattfinden werden, wurde kürzlich die App „mVoter 2020“ vorgestellt, in der Informationen zu allen Kandidierenden abrufbar sind. See English here.

Den hårt kritiserade appen ”mVoter2020” i Myanmar är bara en digitalisering av existerande register och IDEA har inte använt EU-pengar för att utveckla den. Det säger Marcus Brand, IDEA:s landchef i Myanmar, till OmVärlden.