Myanmar's Buddhist monks rally to support Time ban

Myanmar President Thein Sein urges media to “responsibly” exercise freedom of expression that promotes solutions to the country’s problem.

This comes after the government banned the latest edition of Time magazine that ran a cover photo story of a radical Buddhist monk as the “Face of Buddhist Terror”.

The story has caused a public outcry and thousands of people recently rallied in Yangon in support of the government move.

The monk has been accused of fomenting anti-Muslim sentiment in Myanmar, amid a string of bloody sectarian attacks.

In a bid to help cool the situation, the US embassy has just hosted a broad based conference on the issue of the limits to freedom of expression in a democracy.

Hundreds of people have gathered at this upscale hotel in Yangon to discuss an issue that is tearing Myanmar apart: hate speech.

Once under tight control of the military regime, citizens now have access to free media.

But there is a dark side to this era of reform: it has unleashed a steady stream of hate against the country's Muslims.

Websites and Facebook pages are plastered with anti-Muslim messages.

Radical monks are leading the movement, travelling the country and giving anti-Muslim speeches, which are distributed on DVDs sold on the street.

The issue has brought up a critical question during Myanmar's transition from military dictatorship to a democracy: where should the government draw the line between allowing freedom of speech and halting hate speech.

This is Ye Htut, a spokesman for the quasi-civilian government.

He said his government is concerned with offensive language online and will support programs to address it.

Ye Htut said the government has no intention of returning to the old days of censorship.

But in fact, the government has just done just that.

They've banned this month's issue of Time magazine, which pictures a radical monk named Wirathu on the cover. The headline on the cover, "The face of Buddhist terror", caused an uproar in Myanmar.

After the workshop, Ye Htut told reporters the government banned the issue because they were afraid it could contribute to violence.

“We're banning the Time Magazine issue to stop unnecessary events. Separating this Time Magazine issue to society, that's what we are trying to do. And also, by banning this issue, we want to send a strong signal to the society that government take the necessary action, enough is enough - that's what we are trying to do, not to going like the censorship.”

The government may well have had public security in mind when it banned this month's issue of Time.

Clashes between Buddhists and Muslims over the past year have left around 250 people dead and displaced about 150,000.  By far, most of the victims were Muslim.

But so far the government has not stopped radical monks from travelling around the country making anti-Muslim speeches.

Wirathu, the monk on the cover of Time magazine, has been quoted saying Muslims are "mad dogs' and calling mosques "enemy bases".

Speeches like that, said Sui May Ya, contribute to the violence.

“I don't think, I'm sure there is connection with the 969, the monks and the problems, there is connection. I don't mean the real monks. There are real monks. But the monks from 969 and Wirathu has connection with the problems that happen.”

Rather than taking measures to stop Wirathu and other radical monks, the government put out a statement condemning Time magazine and calling Wirathu a "son of Buddha".

Myo Lin Aung, who is also Muslim, agreed that the government is not doing enough to protect his community.

“I like to request government, like he does on the Time Magazine, they should also implement this on those monks who are spreading hate speech.”

The international community has expressed concern about rising hate speech in Myanmar.

And the United States embassy organised this workshop to spark a public discussion about an issue that threatens to derail the country's transition to democracy.

But so far, Myanmar's government seems reluctant to take real action against hate speech, even as sectarian violence spreads across the country.