5/24/22, 7:45 PM Myanmar: Data on internet blocks and internet outages following military coup | OONI www.justiceformyanmar.org and coronavirus.app (which we found blocked as part of recent OONI data analysis). While a wide range of websites can be tested through OONI’s Web Connectivity test (designed to measure the TCP/IP, DNS, and HTTP blocking of websites), the OONI Probe app currently only includes tests for the following social media apps: WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Telegram. Our analysis was therefore limited to the testing of these specific apps. Our findings are also limited by the type and volume of measurements contributed by volunteer OONI Probe users in Myanmar (i.e. if a blocked service was not tested in Myanmar in the analysis period, relevant measurement findings will not be available). To explore the internet outages (i.e. when access to the internet was shut down entirely) in Myanmar, we referred to the following public data sources: Internet Outage Detection and Analysis (IODA), Oracle’s Internet Intelligence Map, and Google traffic data. Our goal was to check whether the signals and timing of the internet outages in Myanmar can be verified and corroborated by all three separate public data sources. Findings Blocking of social media Merely three days after the military coup, ISPs in Myanmar started blocking access to Facebook services. On 4th February 2021, OONI data showed that access to facebook.com, Facebook Messenger, and WhatsApp was blocked on several networks in Myanmar. This was also disclosed by Telenor, who shared that they received a directive from Myanmar’s Ministry of Transport and Communications on 3rd February 2021 to temporarily block Facebook. This directive was reportedly motivated by concerns over the spread of misinformation on Facebook. Quite similarly, Facebook reportedly restricted the distribution of content by profiles and accounts run by Myanmar’s military in an attempt to limit the spread of misinformation. While it was initially reported that Facebook would remain blocked until 7th February 2021, OONI data shows that access to Facebook services remains blocked on several networks in Myanmar. On 5th February 2021, ISPs in Myanmar appear to have started blocking access to Twitter as well. Many OONI measurements collected thereafter suggest the ongoing blocking of twitter.com on several networks in Myanmar. OONI measurements also suggest the blocking of www.instagram.com from 10th February 2021 onwards (though it’s possible that the blocking may have started earlier, as very few measurements testing www.instagram.com are available from the previous days). The following chart illustrates the blocking of social media in Myanmar in February 2021 (following the military coup) based on OONI data. https://ooni.org/post/2021-myanmar-internet-blocks-and-outages/ 3/16