Myanmar government announces official end of censorship of local media

YANGON, Myanmar – Myanmar’s government says it is ending the long-standing practice of media censorship.

The announcement is one of the most dramatic moves yet toward allowing freedom of expression in the long-repressed nation.

Officials from the government’s Press Scrutiny and Registration Department told reporters in the main city Yangon on Monday that they no longer have to submit their work to state censors before publication.

All reporters employed in local print media by were previously obligated to send their stories to censors who had the final say in whether or not they could be published.

President Thein Sein’s reformist government has already dramatically eased media censorship, allowing local media outlets to print articles that would have been unthinkable during the era of absolute military rule that finally ended last year.