Introduction
The Voice of America – Burmese (VOA-Burmese) news production programs, which have been familiar to the Myanmar people for over 80 years, ceased operations as of 16 March 2025. Another U.S. government-funded operation, Radio Free Asia (RFA), is also facing the shutdown of all its operations. Since Donald Trump came back to office, the crisis of the Myanmar people’s right to access information has become more pronounced.
In the RFA Chairman’s announcement, he said: “Cutting funding for RFA is a gift to dictators and bad governments around the world, including the Chinese Communist Party, which is expanding its influence unchecked in the information age.” Furthermore, he said this not only neglects nearly 60 million people who are watching and reading to learn the truth but also deprives them of access to real news while benefiting America’s enemies. 1
For the Myanmar people, they will now lose two major news organizations that have been broadcasting and presenting news content to various segments of society, from grassroots to all social strata, for many decades amidst news propaganda by successive dictatorial governments to this day.
This week’s Burma News International (BNI) – Myanmar Peace Monitor’s Bi-Weekly News Reviews looks into the crisis facing news media that stand independently for the Myanmar people’s right to information, with VOA and RFA among them.
VOA and RFA in context
Voice of America (VOA) was established in February 1942, and until today has broadcast daily reliable news content in 49 languages, including Burmese, reaching 361 million people worldwide. Voice of America – Burmese (VOA-Burmese) began broadcasting in June 1942.
On 16 March 2025, the VOA Burmese Facebook page, which has 19 million followers, announced, “We will resume broadcasting in the near future,” bidding farewell to its audience. VOA Director Michael Abramowitz said that for more than 80 years, VOA has played an indispensable role in opposing communism, fascism, and oppression, as well as in fighting for democracy and freedom worldwide, making it an invaluable treasure for the United States. “Especially for those living under authoritarian regimes, VOA broadcasts fair and ethical news and information, sharing America’s values and stories, thereby promoting democracy and freedom globally,” he said. 2
“For the first time in 83 years, it is truly disheartening that America’s voices have been silenced,” Mr. Michael Abramowitz added.
Radio Free Asia (RFA), which began broadcasting in Mandarin Chinese on 12 March 1996, is a news organization that broadcasts in nine languages, including Burmese. On Saturday morning, 15 March 2025, RFA received notification that the U.S. government was suspending its financial support and that remaining funds must be returned to the government without delay.
RFA, a news organization that delivers regional news content and information to countries including Myanmar, North Korea, Tibet, and as well as in regions within China such as Xinjiang — where freedom of the press is virtually non-existent and connections to the outside world are heavily restricted—via radio, television, social media, and internet pages without censorship or propaganda, is now facing the suspension of its operations following the aforementioned notice.
On 21 March 2025, RFA Burmese Facebook page, which has 14 million followers, announced, “To RFA Audiences” that many of its main broadcasting programs would begin to be suspended due to financial difficulties affecting its continued operations.
“We believe this difficulty is only temporary. RFA firmly believes that one day the Myanmar people will be liberated from injustice and will surely enjoy the fruits of freedom, democracy, and prosperity. For this reason, RFA hopes to overcome these current challenges in the short term and regain the opportunity to once again provide the Myanmar people with truthful news with the same strength and vigor as before,” said U Kyaw Kyaw Aung, Director of the RFA Burmese.
This crisis affecting the sustainability of VOA and RFA is a direct and immediate result of President Donald Trump’s order to reduce government operations. In the order issued on 14 March 2025, President Trump mandated extreme cuts to operations at seven government agencies, including the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which is the parent agency of VOA and RFA. According to this order, these operations should be reduced to the minimum if they are deemed legally necessary, and completely eliminated if they are not legally mandated.
If VOA and RFA, which have served the Myanmar people’s right to information for decades, were to cease operations, it could mean the loss of even the limited access to news via radio and satellite for a Myanmar population already grappling with a military coup, internet blackouts, and restrictions on social media platforms, including Facebook.
Myanmar’s Media Crisis and the Public’s Right to Information
Myanmar has long ranked near the bottom of press freedom indices. Following the military coup in 2021, the junta revoked the operating licenses of seven news outlets that were functioning independently to ensure the public’s right to access information. Since the military coup, journalists investigating a wide range of issues—such as the hardships faced by the populace, social conditions, conflict incidents, airstrikes, arrests, killings, and torture of civilians—have faced arrest, torture leading to death, and long prison sentences. As a result, the public’s right to know and access information has been severely threatened.
Over the four years since the military rule, the junta has arrested more than 200 journalists. As of 25 January 2025, 43 journalists have been charged with criminal offenses and sentenced to prison terms ranging from a minimum of 3 years to life imprisonment with hard labour. In addition, seven journalists have died due to arrest, torture, and killing. The military council has revoked the operating licenses of 15 domestically-based news media organizations that were investigating and reporting on acts of violence against civilians and human rights violations. 3
Despite these multifaceted suppressions and restrictions on the right to know and access information within Myanmar, local media operations have persisted in standing independently for the public, uncovering and presenting news through various means. However, these efforts have once again been strained due to an order from President Donald Trump.
On 24 January 2025, by President Donald Trump’s order, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was suspended for 90 days pending a review of whether it benefits the American people. This order completely halted health services in refugee camps along the Thai-Myanmar border. 4 Other USAID-supported initiatives—including human rights protection, democracy promotion, and humanitarian aid—also came to a halt.
On 27 January 2025, President Trump issued another directive halting all current U.S. government assistance programs to foreign countries and suspending new aid initiatives.
Simultaneously, despite the junta’s revocation of licenses, independent media outlets—both within Myanmar and abroad—have continued striving to deliver truthful news to the public through diverse methods. Yet, President Donald Trump’s order has plunged these free and independent media operations into a crisis. 5
Review
Within less than 100 days of the U.S. government under President Donald Trump’s leadership, executive orders have plunged people worldwide—including in Myanmar—from students to the elderly into a multitude of difficulties and crises. Among these, the impact on news media operations, including VOA and RFA, which strive to provide the Myanmar people with access to truthful information, is particularly significant. Independent media outlets that operate freely to secure the public’s right to truthful news serve not only as the ears and eyes of the people but also as spaces where hardships and human rights violations can be openly expressed and addressed without fear or trepidation.
As the RFA Chairman has stated, cutting funding or imposing measures that jeopardize the survival of media operations—which present the truth as it is, without bias, for the public’s right to know—through President Trump’s orders could serve as a grand prize for authoritarian governments and oppressive regimes. On the other hand, these orders pose a significant threat to the public’s right to information.
The military junta has been intensifying its efforts to spread propaganda news and distorted information to the public in order to conceal the atrocities it has committed against the people and to ensure the success of its coup. Simultaneously, the crisis surrounding the ability of independent news media organizations—which stand freely to provide the public with accurate information—to continue operating has grown increasingly severe.
Therefore, the survival of news media—which serve as the ears and eyes of the public and offer a platform for people to speak freely without fear—has become a pressing issue that international governments and organizations must prioritize. Furthermore, it is time for the National Unity Government (NUG), along with those fighting for democracy and human rights, as well as various groups and local governments, to strive to find every possible means to support and sustain independent news media in their regions, ensuring they can uncover and share information for the public’s right to know.
1 RFA President: RFA’s cancellation a boon to the Chinese Communist Party, 15 Mar 2025
2 https://www.facebook.com/abramowitzmj, 16 Mar 2025
3 IPCM calls for accountability of perpetrators who torture and kill journalists, KIC, 26 Jan 2025
4 US aid suspension affects Myanmar refugees, RFA, 29 Jan 2025
5 Myanmar media workers express concern over U.S. aid suspension, VOA, 29 Jan 2025