FOTP 2013 Full Report

YouTube—have grown in popularity. In some cases the services have been used to disseminatemisinformation and hate speech, as exemplified by vitriolic responses to the Rohingya issue.Starting in mid-2012, fabricated news and falsified photographs associated with the violence inRakhine State were posted on several Facebook accounts anonymously. Also in 2012, thegovernment reduced the price of SIM cards for mobile telephones, though they remained amongthe most expensive in Asia. Complicated payment schemes for short-message service (SMS)make it either too costly or politically risky for Burmese seeking to use text messages as anotherplatform for news, information, or civic mobilization.BurundiStatus: Not FreeLegal Environment: 23Political Environment: 28Economic Environment: 21Total Score: 72Survey Edition 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012Total Score, Status 74,NF 75,NF 73,NF 74,NF 72,NFThere was no easing of the existing clampdown on the media in Burundi during 2012, asjournalists who reported critically on President Pierre Nkurunziza’s government were generallytreated as part of the political opposition and harassed by the security forces and ruling partyfunctionaries. Meanwhile, judicial authorities continued to face criticism for serving the rulingparty’s interests, to the detriment of independent media and civil society.The constitution guarantees freedom of speech and of the press, but the country’s lawsimpose criminal penalties on journalists for defamation, discrediting the state, insulting the headof state, and “threatening state security.” The 1997 Press Law forbids dissemination of“information inciting civil disobedience or serving as propaganda for enemies of the Burundiannation during a time of war.” The 2003 Media Law allows harsh fines and prison terms of up tofive years for the dissemination of information that insults the president or is defamatory towardother individuals. In June 2012, journalist Hassan Ruvakuki, a correspondent for Bonesha FMand Radio France Internationale, was sentenced to life in prison for “participating in acts ofterrorism,” amid claims that the government had pressured the court to convict. He had beenarrested in November 2011 over an interview he conducted with the alleged leader of a rebelgroup that carried out deadly attacks near the Burundi-Tanzania border. An appeal was pendingat year’s end.During 2012, the government introduced a bill to decriminalize media offenses, butjournalists said it would also compel them to reveal their sources in cases deemed to threatenstate security or public order. Another provision requires journalists to broadcast or publish only“balanced information from sources that have been rigorously verified.” Offenses would not bepunishable by imprisonment, but heavy fines are prescribed for certain violations, which couldplace a serious financial burden on media organizations. The bill had yet to be passed at the endof 2012.107