• Constitution (2008): Broad security exceptions in Article 354 provide constitutional cover for mass surveillance. The regime argues that imported facial recognition cameras and automated monitoring are necessary for “community peace”, effectively overriding the right to privacy essential for cultural self-determination. • Penal Code (1861): Defines illegal content for automated monitoring tools. Broad provisions against “causing fear” or “spreading false news” as a baseline to systematically erase valid human rights documentation and journalism from the digital history of Myanmar. • Cybersecurity Law (2025): As the technical backbone of the digital dictatorship, this law regulates VPNs and mandates data localisation to force user traffic through State-controlled gateways. This grants the military's surveillance apparatus a comprehensive dataset of the population's online behaviour for behavioural analysis and threat detection. • Law Protecting the Privacy and Security of Citizens (2017): In February 2021, the military suspended sections of the law removing the legal requirement for warrants before search and seizure, effectively legalising 24/7 digital surveillance and the interception of private communications without judicial oversight. International legal framework In the absence of domestic protection, the rights of people in Myanmar must be viewed through the lens of international obligations and standards applying to both the State and technology companies. • International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Myanmar ratified the ICESCR in 2017. The State is bound to recognise the right to take part in cultural life and enjoy scientific progress. The military's use of AI to censor cultural expression and block the global internet via the Great Firewall directly violates these treaty obligations. • Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women: As a State party, Myanmar is obligated to eliminate discrimination against women. The deployment of AI surveillance to facilitate the “dox-to-arrest pipeline” targeting women is a technologyfacilitated violation of these commitments, amplifying gender-based violence. • UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs): In a conflict context where the State is the primary violator of human rights, the corporate responsibility to respect is paramount. However, technology companies operating in or supplying Myanmar are consistently failing to meet this standard. Specifically, they are neglecting to conduct Heightened Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) and are failing to perform adequate Human Rights Impact Assessments (HRIAs). By prioritising market access or cost-saving automation over rigorous safety checks, these companies risk complicity in the abuses committed using their technologies, such as the identification and subsequent torture of dissidents.