MANDALAY, Myanmar — In a new crackdown on free speech, the Myanmar authorities have arrested a prominent editor on terrorism charges for publishing an interview with a rebel army spokesman, and on Friday they were seeking two more editors on similar charges.

In recent days, the authorities have raided journalists’ homes and offices, interrogated reporters about their coverage and blocked websites that were reporting on armed conflict with ethnic groups. News sites run by the three editors were among those blocked under the government order.

Journalists and human rights activists said the government’s actions — including the arrest on Monday of U Nay Myo Lin, editor in chief of Voice of Myanmar, an independent news site based in Mandalay — were an attempt to reinstate authoritarian measures like those of Myanmar’s former military regime, at a time when most of the world is focused on stopping the coronavirus pandemic.

“During this critical time, we believe that it is very dangerous and irrational to detain journalists and block access to media, which are the eyes and ears of the people,” said the Myanmar Press Freedom Center, a media advocacy group in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city.