support a 2015 request from the government of Myanmar to fulfil their duty to protect human rights
when undertaking lawful interception/surveillance was therefore lost.
Furthermore, although MCRB encouraged the EU Special Representative to include digital rights as part
of the EU/Myanmar human rights dialogue, as it had the potential to be a genuinely two-way dialogue
around dilemmas that could bring in officials from across government, this was never included in the
agenda.
Making more use of the Freedom Online Coalition
This incident was indicative of a wider challenge relating to development partners/diplomatic missions in
Myanmar. There was low awareness of the human rights issues associated with technology, and of the
diplomatic and development importance of the topic (although press coverage and increased awareness
in recent years around the rights risks posed by social media etc have begun to change this). The Freedom
Online Coalition (FOC), a group of 34 countries committed to protecting and promoting online freedoms
domestically and abroad, was established in 2011 to promote diplomatic coordination by governments
on these topics. FOC Members have agreed to prioritize three primary activity areas:
1. Strengthening coordination and cooperation among Members, as well as with outside
stakeholders who share the Coalition’s objectives, with added focus on fostering cross-regional
diplomacy through employing local networks;
2. Shaping global norms on human rights online through joint statements;
3. Holding periodic convenings with Members and other stakeholders.
However, to date the FOC appears to be mainly a headquarters initiative without connection to
opportunities on the ground to progress its agenda. In Myanmar, Embassies of governments who are FOC
members lacked awareness of the FOC. This was true even for the in-country missions of the country
holding the Chair of the FOC, who appeared unbriefed by headquarters. The FOC Chair (Canada in 2022)
is supported by Friends of the Chair (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, the
Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States), many of whom are active in
Myanmar. With a total of 17 government members of the FOC having resident missions in Myanmar, the
FOC could be a platform for more active in-country coordination and action among diplomatic missions
on digital rights issues, including coordinated diplomatic and development action, together with UN
institutions and IFIs.
For example, embassies in June 2019 with one notable exception (Sweden) were not proactive in speaking
out on issues such as internet shutdown. Nor do donors coordinate and consult on issues related to the
tech sector and human rights including its integration into other programmes such as health, education
or democratisation and the rule of law.
Conclusions
Despite the SWIA’s success in analysing and predicting human rights risks in the policy and regulatory
framework which subsequently – and unfortunately - materialised, the six years of follow-up advocacy
was less successful. Little progress was made in achieving regulatory and policy responses that are
consistent with the State's duty to protect.
Consequently while the military government which took over on 1 February 2021 unilaterally rescinded
some human rights protections in other parts of the legal framework, most of the digital rights safeguards
for which MCRB and other civil society organisations had advocated for did not need to removed as they
Sensitivity: Open