The Burmese government has abolished pre-publication checks of the country’s media, according to the information ministry.
The Press Scrutiny and Registration Department (PSRD) announced that reporters are not required to submit material to state censors before publication.
"Censorship began on 6 August 1964 and ended 48 years and two weeks later," Tint Swe, head of the PSRD, told AFP news agency on Monday.
"Any publication inside the country will not have to get prior permission from us before they are published.
"From now on, our department will just carry out registering publications for keeping them at the national archives and issuing a license to printers and publishers," he said.
The censorship laws previously applied to written works, including newspaper articles, song lyrics and fairy tales.
However, the restrictions still apply to movies, and television journalists are asked to ‘self-censor’, by asking for more information about sensitive news, said an official.
Journalists and authors may still be punished for what they have written if it is deemed unacceptable by the state.
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