iMAP Myanmar 2023 Internet Censorship Report | Page 12 Sein, a former president of Myanmar, became the country’s first civilian president3 in the first half of the century; however, the country was still under military influence. Hundreds of political prisoners were released from house arrest and media censorship, including the chairperson of NLDs Aung San Suu Kyi. The NLDs party began campaigning in 2011, with Aung San Suu Kyi leading the party in negotiations to attain multiparty democracy. Post 2016: Power Sharing In 2015, the NLD party won the general election and became the first non-military government, thus ending 54 years of military rule. The NLD government endeavoured to maintain a friendly relationship with the junta after coming to power in 2016. In 2019, the international perception of Aung San Suu Kyi, the State Counselor, was profoundly impacted by the high-profile cases of persecution targeting the Rohingya ethnic minority in Rakhine State. She faced severe criticism for her denial of all accusations of genocide during the proceedings at the International Court of Justice.4 Figure 1: Myanmar political milestones Post 2021: Dictatorship return Even though Aung San Suu Kyi had a friendly relationship with the military regime, General Min Aung Hlaing took control after a decade of non-military rule. On 1 February 2021, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and other military leaders staged a coup; they detained and charged de facto civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi who won the landslide general elections in November 2020. The military claimed that the election was irregular due to unfair voter turnout and detained several NLD party members. In the week after the coup, peaceful protests known as the Spring Revolution took place nationwide and called for the military to relinquish power.5 Street demonstrations occurred throughout the country, and civil servants enacted a Civil Disobedience Movement through strikes. A flurry of images, print materials, and graffiti slogans against the military dictatorship were shared physically and via social media. The Human Rights Watch reported that the SAC denied the call for the military to relinquish power and killed at least 1,200 protesters and bystanders, including approximately 75 children, and detained over 8700 government officials, activists, journalists, and civil servants.6 An opposition party, consisting of ousted NLD lawmakers, protest leaders, and activists from several minority groups, was formed to counter the SAC and represent a civilian parallel government known as the National Unity Government (NUG). On 7 September 2021, the NUG declared war on the junta and formed an armed division known as the People’s Defense Force (PDF).7 By 2022, nationwide civil war between ethnic arms groups, PDF, and 3 Chaudhury, D. R. (2021, February 1). In points: A timeline of Myanmar's politics Banerjee, S. (2022) The Enduring Challenges to Democratic Transition in Myanmar. Observer Research Foundation. Retrieved September 30, 2022, from https://www.orfonline.org/research/enduring-challenges-to-democratic-transition-in-myanmar/ 5 Min Naing Soon. (2021, November 2). The current crisis in Myanmar: The different political positions of the Mon people. The Transnational Institute. https://www.tni.org/en/article/the-current-crisis-in-myanmar-the-different-political-position-of-the-mon-people 6 Human Rights Watch (2022). Myanmar Events of 2021. https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2022/country-chapters/myanmar-burma 7 Mathieson, D. S. (2021, September 7). Myanmar’s shadow government formally declares war. Asia Times. https://asiatimes.com/2021/09/myanmars-shadow-government-formally-declares-war/ 4