6.1 OFFICIAL STATE NARRATIVES
Myanmar Witness collected and analysed three state narratives describing actions
against scam operations in Shwe Kokko, specifically to understand how this
operation was framed to a wider audience. These statements were collected from
online media sources and official Myanmar state reports. The analysis involved
fact-checking claims related to previous scam operations, the actors involved, and
earlier crackdowns in Myanmar.
6.2 EVIDENCE FROM SHWE KOKKO
Shwe Kokko demolition events were routinely reported by the Myanmar military
government and its official state media outlets (the Ministry of Information, The
Global New Light of Myanmar, and the MRTV Telegram channel) beginning on 25
May 2026. Two additional sources were Chinese-based news outlets focusing on
Myanmar or Southeast Asia. Demolition activity was monitored daily for updates
until its completion on 26 July 2026.
Imagery and video footage were analysed for geolocation and chronolocation
purposes. High-resolution Apple Maps satellite imagery was used to support
geolocation efforts. Copernicus's low-resolution Sentinel-2 true-colour imagery was
utilised for chronolocation. Chronolocation was challenging due to heavy cloud
cover over Myanmar throughout much of June and July 2026. Further analysis was
conducted to determine whether the reported information matched the
associated UGC. All discrepancies are explained in this report.
All imagery underwent AI verification checks using Gemini and OpenAI verification
platforms to identify watermarks and SynthID markers.
6.3 LIMITATIONS
This investigation was subject to several limitations that affected the collection,
verification, and analysis of demolition reporting.
No single source captured all aspects of the demolition activity. Instead, multiple
sources provided updates on the progress of the crackdown, requiring the
investigative team to monitor various outlets daily to determine whether
demolition activity had occurred. As a result, this report does not seek to document
every reported demolition event. Rather, it focuses on specific examples where
Myanmar Witness was able to identify inconsistencies between reported
information and the available evidence.
Once reporting was identified, further limitations affected efforts to verify and
chronolocate demolition activity. Heavy cloud cover from early June 2026 limited
chronolocation and building-detail analysis throughout June and July 2026,
www.info-res.org
www.myanmarwitness.org
26