5/22/25, 12:10 PM Burma Junta Adopts China’s Digital Blueprint for Repression – ENG.MIZZIMA.COM  Antonio Graceffo Burma’s junta has constructed one of the world’s most repressive digital control systems, criminalizing online speech, jailing thousands for digital expression, and shutting down internet access in resistanceheld areas. Now in its fourth year, the regime’s digital crackdown is powered by Chinese surveillance technology and biometric infrastructure. Cooperation between the junta and China has transformed Burma into a testing ground for twenty-first century digital authoritarianism. China is widely recognized as one of the most digitally repressive states in the world. The government operates the “Great Firewall,” one of the most sophisticated internet censorship systems globally, blocking access to foreign news, social media platforms, and search engines. China enforces strict realname registration for online activity and uses facial recognition, AI-powered CCTV, and mobile phone surveillance to monitor its citizens in real time. These tools are combined with predictive policing, biometric databases, and movement tracking to suppress dissent and enforce state control across the population. As part of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China has also promoted the Digital Silk Road, exporting surveillance technologies, data laws, and cyber governance models to authoritarian regimes along the route, including Burma, where the military junta has adopted key elements of China’s digital control https://eng.mizzima.com/2025/05/20/22523?fbclid=IwY2xjawKbl-JleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFjWmFDSzNFTk9TMHVQYkpuAR78bcFtc-1UAGkye2oPrpEvu… 2/8