Rewarding friendly social media In sharp contrast to the USA-based social media platforms, the military has maintained minimal blocks on Chinese-owned TikTok and Russian-founded Telegram.8 During the election countdown, the blocking rates for these platforms actually decreased: TikTok dropped from 16% to 12%, while Telegram fell from 15% to 5%. The military targets accessibility based on its own geopolitical calculations, favouring platforms it links to States that offer the regime diplomatic or military backing. Furthermore, unlike Facebook and Instagram, other platforms have not implemented sanctions against military accounts to the same degree, allowing the military to use them more freely for its own election propaganda and recruitment. This fragmentation of the digital space will have a profound effect on the audience. By blocking informative platforms while leaving entertainment-heavy apps like TikTok open, the military effectively pushes the public toward distraction and away from substantive civic engagement. This forced digital displacement fragments the media's audience and subdues public resistance through a diet of curated entertainment. Proportion of public access attempts blocked pre-election and during the election countdown 72% pre-election Facebook 98% during election 64% X (formerly Twitter) 88% 57% Instagram TikTok Telegram 81% 16% 12% 15% 5% Coercing the public into surveillance The military’s targeted blocking also functions as a surveillance funnel for the media and the public. End-to-end encrypted tools that prevent the military spying on what the public is viewing and saying have been almost completely blocked since the coup 8 TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a company founded by Chinese entrepreneurs and headquartered in Beijing. Telegram was founded by two Russians who have since left Russia. Page 11 of 17