Press Scrutiny Board

   (PSB)

   The chief censorship organ of the Burmese government, which has exercised strict control over publication of books, periodicals, and magazines during both the Burma Socialist Programme Party and the State Law and Order Restoration Council/State Peace and Development Council eras. According to guidelines promulgated in July 1975, the PSB can halt publication of, among other things, items considered "harmful to national solidarity and unity." Because of the ambiguity of the guidelines, almost any publication, even if nonpolitical, is liable to censorship. After 1988, for example, references to things associated with Aung San Suu Kyi were not permitted (e.g., the Nobel Prize). Because the PSB requires that publishers submit books and magazines after they are printed, rather than as manuscripts, there is a strong financial incentive for self-censorship, especially because paper is expensive and in short supply. Objectionable material is torn out of publications or inked-over, with popular monthly magazines being special targets of censorship.

   See also Human Rights in Burma; Mass Media in Burma.