Internet Access Amid Darkness and Lives Amid Threats You’re not connected Internet connection has been severed in the entire Chin State, another severely war-torn region after the coup since September 2021. The total population of 530,000 in Matupi township, Tonzang township, Paletwa township, Falam township, Kanpetlet township, Thantlang township, Tedim township, and Hakha township in Chin State were affected. (3.5) Kayah State (Karenni State) Affected people – 335,970 Township Population Loikaw 154,751 Demoso 94,741 Bawlakhe 13,170 Hpasawng 30,566 Mese Total affected population 7,541 300,769 Kayah (Karenni) State's Loikaw township faced an internet shutdown on 6 January 2022 then Bawlakhe township, Demoso township, Hpasawng township, and Maese township followed on 1 February 2022, resulting in an average of more than 320,000 people affected.18 A resident of Loikaw township said in a research interview made by Athan that the main cause of internet blackout in the State is electricity outage and intensification of conflicts from the beginning of 2022. Mobile phone access and mobile internet access got worsened day by day, deficient and no longer accessible even in previously available areas. Due to the lack of communication between even the eastern part and western parts of any villages caused by the mobile phone access disruption, patients and internally displaced people (IDPs) had to go in person in case of emergency health issues amid the inconveniences.19 18 အက်စတာထ ျ. “ကရင်နထေသတင် အင်တာနက်နင ှ ်ဲ့ ဖုန်း် လိုင်း် ဖြတ်ထတာက်မှု ြိုဆ်းုိ လာ”. (2022 February 8). Myanmar Now. https://myanmar-now.org/mm/news/10395 19 ကယာ်းဖြည်နယ်၌ ဆက်သယ်ထရ်းလိုင်း် မျာ်း ဖြတ်ထတာက်မှု ြိုဆ်းုိ လာ. (2022 February 7). Democratic Voice of Burma. http://burmese.dvb.no/archives/515743 11