Burmese Military Blocks Social Media Access With the Assistance of Telecommunications Providers

Following the coup in Burma, the military junta has tried to quash public protests by cutting internet access and banning social media sites. The military has cloaked its actions in a veneer of legality, reminding the world that telecommunications laws that do not protect freedom of speech can quickly be used to silence all speech.

Netblocks, a nongovernmental organization that monitors cybersecurity and governance on the internet, first observed the widespread internet disruptions beginning at 3:00 AM local time on February 1 as the military arrested civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other government officials, with connectivity dropping to less than 50 percent by 8:00 AM that morning. The Myanmar Times reported that the loss of internet access not only limited personal communications but had also forced banks to close their doors, impacting business operations around the country.

Burma’s internet infrastructure is largely owned and operated by four major internet service providers (ISPs): Telenor (a Norwegian company), Ooredoo (a Qatari company), and state-owned Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) and MyTel Telecommunications. Prior to 2013, MPT enjoyed a monopoly over Burma’s internet and telecom infrastructure. While the Ministry for Transport and Communications (MoTC) eventually opened up the market to other competitors, MoTC’s relationship with MPT remains close. The other state-owned ISP, MyTel, was reportedly created as a joint venture between the Vietnamese military-controlled company Viettel and Star High Public Company, which has ties to Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), which is reportedly owned by the Burmese military. The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned MEC from 2008 to 2016 for its role in supporting human rights violations carried out by the Burmese military.

While most internet and phone services were eventually restored, Burma’s largest telecom providers have continued to block citizen access to Facebook, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, and encrypted messaging app WhatsApp. Telenor, for example, issued statements saying the company has “challenged the necessity and proportionality of the directive [from the MoTC] … and highlighted the directive’s contradiction with international human rights law” but is ultimately “bound by local law.” The company’s statements are a reminder of the leverage authoritarian governments have over even foreign companies. “We have employees on the ground,” Telenor continued, “and our first priority is to ensure their safety.”

In the past, the MoTC has used legislation such as Burma’s Telecommunications Law to censor and stamp out all forms of protest and criticism of the government. The Burmese military has also historically cut off internet access to censor information, block organization efforts, and suppress dissent.

The latest social media blackout by the Burmese military illustrates the need for U.S. leadership to call attention to telecommunications laws that violate human rights under the guise of security. The United States must hold telecommunication providers accountable if, when faced with pressure to silence the voice of the people, they acquiesce to authoritarianism rather than quickly unwinding their investments and exiting the authoritarian market. The Biden administration’s recent executive order in response to the coup provides tools that could be used to sanction state-owned MPT and MyTel for “limit[ing] access to … online … media.” The order also potentially exposes Telenor and Ooredoo to designation risk under the same criteria. The case for applying these sanctions appears strong. Messaging from the Biden administration should make clear that the United States stands with the citizens of Burma, and that the international community will not stand idly by while military might subverts the will of the people and telecommunications providers facilitate those efforts.

Mark Montgomery is senior director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation (CCTI) at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where Trevor Logan is a cyber research analyst. For more analysis from Mark, Trevor, and CCTI, please subscribe HERE. Follow Mark and Trevor on Twitter @MarkCMontgomery and @TrevorLoganFDD. Follow FDD on Twitter @FDD and @FDD_CCTI. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.