Myanmar's president Thein Sein warned Tuesday that newly established media freedoms maybe curtailed if press coverage led to further rioting, reports ChannelNewsAsia.
"We have attained one of the highest levels of press freedom in Southeast Asia, with the right to speak and write freely, because of political reform which is crucial in the transition process," Mr Sein said.
"However, if media freedom threatens national security instead of helping the nation, we warn that we will take action under existing laws," he added.
His speech came as social media users in Myanmar reporting unprecedented outages on Facebook and Twitter, according to the Wall Street Journal. Some users have accused the government of limiting access.
Authorities declared a curfew in the country's second largest city on Thursday, Mandalay, after rioting broke out between Buddhists and Muslims, and curfew remains in place as the violence continues into the second week.
Clashes began early last week Buddhist mobs damaged Muslim shops and a mosque, following claims circulated on social media sites that a Buddhist woman had been raped by Muslim men.
"We have attained one of the highest levels of press freedom in Southeast Asia, with the right to speak and write freely, because of political reform which is crucial in the transition process," Mr Sein said.
"However, if media freedom threatens national security instead of helping the nation, we warn that we will take action under existing laws," he added.
His speech came as social media users in Myanmar reporting unprecedented outages on Facebook and Twitter, according to the Wall Street Journal. Some users have accused the government of limiting access.
Authorities declared a curfew in the country's second largest city on Thursday, Mandalay, after rioting broke out between Buddhists and Muslims, and curfew remains in place as the violence continues into the second week.
Clashes began early last week Buddhist mobs damaged Muslim shops and a mosque, following claims circulated on social media sites that a Buddhist woman had been raped by Muslim men.