Myanmar election app goes offline, criticised over label for Rohingya

Myanmar citizen living in Thailand with face masks lining up to enter Myanmar embassy in Bangkok, on Saturday (Oct 3) as advance polling station open ahead of the country's November general election. - Reuters

YANGON, Oct 2 (Reuters): A smartphone app produced for Myanmar’s Nov 8 election with help from international organisations appears to have been removed from circulation and may be amended after criticism over its use of a label for Rohingya Muslims that the Rohingya view as derogatory.

The mVoter2020 app, launched on Tuesday and aimed at improving voter awareness, labels at least two candidates belonging to the Rohingya ethnic group as "Bengali”, a term that implies they are immigrants from Bangladesh and is rejected by many Rohingya.