Burmese Regime Strikes at Bloggers

Burmese authorities have arrested one of the country’s best known bloggers, the owner of three Internet cafes in Rangoon, according to sources in the former capital.

The arrested blogger was identified as Nay Myo Latt by a source who knows him well. The source said Nay Myo Latt, also known as Nay Phone Latt, was arrested at his home in Rangoon’s Thingangyun Township of Rangoon.

Nay Myo Latt, a youth member of the opposition National League for Democracy, owns the Explorer Internet café in Rangoon’s Papedan Township, the Heaven Internet café in Thingangyun Township and a third in the same suburb.

An NLD youth member who is a friend of Nay Myo Latt said the arrested blogger had been under observation by the authorities since returning from a stay in Singapore one year ago.

On his Website, www.nayphonelatt.blogspot.com, Nay Myo Latt says he is interested in art and music. But his friend said he was probably arrested because of political content on the site.

Burmese authorities have become increasingly nervous about the activities of the country’s many Internet bloggers since the September 2007 demonstrations, when blog sites were a major source of information about the protests and the regime’s brutal crackdown.

The first blog site to carry pictures of the demonstrations, http://moezack.blogspot.com, was closed down, and a blogger in Mogok Township, central Burma, was warned about the content on his site, www.mogokmedia.blogspot.com.

The authorities have tried to break contacts between Burmese bloggers and the outside world by blocking the Web site www.blogger.com and by slowing down Internet transmission speeds.

Sabotage is another regime method to disrupt bloggers’ activities. The Niknayman blog site was infiltrated by saboteurs who added insults and pornographic material to its content.