Myanmar’s Digital Crackdown is Worsening: The World is Stepping Back | TechPolicy.Press 7/24/25, 12:16 PM disinformation, presenting o"cial narratives that are then echoed across social media channels. At the same time, major sources of independent news have gone silent. Recently, radio programs like Voice of America’s Burmese Program and Radio Free Asia, which once served as lifelines for remote communities, have ceased broadcasting due to international funding cuts. These closures directly weakened civil society’s ability to fact-check military disinformation and share verified information across media channels. These developments are unfolding alongside a growing international acceptance of the junta’s presence on the world stage. In recent months, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has attended high-level diplomatic events, including the BIMSTEC summit in Bangkok, Russia’s Victory Day in Moscow, and most recently the Eurasian Economic Forum in Belarus. He also met the Chinese president during his time in Moscow, marking their first face-to-face meeting since the coup. This increasing diplomatic recognition risks legitimizing the junta and undermining accountability e!orts. A global response: it’s now or never Myanmar is facing a layered emergency: one of natural disaster, political violence, and systemic digital repression. The lines between these crises are blurring. Internet blackouts are not isolated incidents; they are long-term policies of silence. Surveillance infrastructure is not theoretical; it is being implemented on the ground. Propaganda is not incidental; it is part of a strategy to dominate the information space. Myanmar’s people continue to resist with courage, under impossible conditions, but they need the international community operating together at the United Nations, as well as the more direct leadership of states such as the United States, whose https://www.techpolicy.press/myanmars-digital-crackdown-is-worsening-the-world-is-stepping-back/ Page 6 of 7