S ei a ce a d Ce hi Surveillance threats and risks vary depending on location In more rural areas authorities exercise far broader and more invasive powers Surveillance initially dropped when the NLD came to power in 2016 In the following years however surveillance levels have once again increased in Myanmar Most of the interviewees reported being surveilled by the authorities primarily by the military and the police especially the police from the Special Intelligence Department Some of these individuals indicated it is possible that they are being surveilled due to the sensitive nature of their work The majority of participants said the military has greater strategic surveillance capabilities than the NLD government Many interviewees raised concerns about the need for user privacy stressing the importance of gaining legal protection so that tech companies will respect and implement pro user privacy policies S ei a ce eh d In terms of technical surveillance methods most of the participants raised concerns around the interception of phone calls the extraction of data from confiscated devices which some had witnessed or experienced and the enforcement of SIM registration Other concerns included state sponsored malware Wifi hacking network traffic monitoring account hacking and the SMMT In terms of physical surveillance most of the participants expressed concern about the authorities massive use of human resources to conduct in person surveillance In the rural areas interviewees reported that people are being harassed assaulted and abused In certain situations people are reportedly being arrested simply due to their ethnicity Se f Ce hi All the various forms of surveillance censorship and intimidation have a net negative impact causing interviewees to self censor and limit their activities Due to social media monitoring and surveillance 45 of participants reported self censoring to maintain a low profile Among those who engaged in self censoring 72 are women working on the peace process human rights violation documentation digital rights and legal reform Women journalists also reported facing online attacks when covering sensitive issues Attackers often post the journalists personal information or spread misinformation and publicly shame them on Facebook Threats are primarily communicated on Facebook Messenger Participants indicated that this type of intimidation is common for most activists and has been the case for years Accordingly most of the interviewees have begun to self censor their speech and activities on Facebook and other social media platforms On a related note self censorship has increased after the Gambia filed a case against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice ICJ regarding Myanmar s treatment of ethnic Rohingya Muslims Since the filing of the case Muslim human rights defenders in Myanmar said they are self censoring online to avoid being attacked by NLD loyalists Feelings of insecurity have increased as well in the wake of the ICJ hearings