Press Release June 2, 2026 KDDI and Sumitomo must end irresponsible partnership with Myanmar junta telecom company responsible for surveillance and censorship Justice For Myanmar​ Mekong Watch​ ayus:Network of Buddhists Volunteers on International Cooperation​ Pacific Asia Resource Center (PARC)​ Friends of the Earth Japan​ Japan International Volunteer Center (JVC)​ Network Against Japan Arms Trade (NAJAT)​ Justice For Myanmar, Mekong Watch and five Japanese organizations have raised serious concerns that Japanese multinationals KDDI Corporation and Sumitomo Corporation’s continued partnership with the junta-controlled Myanma Posts and Telecommunication (MPT) is contributing to adverse human rights impacts in Myanmar. The groups have urged KDDI and Sumitomo to end its irresponsible partnership with MPT and to responsibly exit from Myanmar. Five years after the Myanmar military attempted a coup, the internet in Myanmar is among the most restricted in the world. The military junta’s digital surveillance and censorship has been escalated to unprecedented levels, as it staged a recent sham election. The illegal junta imposed cybersecurity and election related laws that criminalized speech, leading to orchestrated prosecutions against more than 400 people, including for online activity. On February 27, 2026, the groups sent a letter to the companies addressing concerns raised by Justice For Myanmar’s investigation into the junta’s digital surveillance system, which exposed significant collaboration between the junta and the Chinese company Geedge Networks in implementing a commercial version of China’s "Great Firewall". This has given the junta unprecedented capabilities to track down, arrest, torture and kill civilians. The report highlights that MPT was among the first operators to implement this far-reaching surveillance and censorship technology for the military junta (*1). MPT also continues to provide web hosting services for junta propaganda sites, including the junta’s information and defence ministries, the Office of the Commander in Chief and its propaganda sites Infosheet and Myawaddy News. MPT is a joint operation between the now junta-controlled Ministry of Transport and Communications (MOTC) and Sumitomo Corporation and KDDI Corporation through the joint venture KDDI Summit Global Myanmar Co., Ltd. (KSGM). In the letters sent to KDDI and Sumitomo, the groups inquired whether the company is aware of MPT’s involvement in the implementation of mass surveillance and censorship; whether it