Internet Access Amid Darkness and Lives Amid Threats You’re not connected (4.3) Situation After the Internet Blackout Due to the internet blackout, people reused radios to listen to real-time information related to incidents across the country. Moreover, people within the potential armed conflict areas packed and stored rations, clothes, and essentials in safe places. A school teacher in Gangaw township said that he listened to DVB, Mizzima, PVTV, BBC, and VOA radio channels as primary sources of information after the internet blackout, sometimes sought to access 2G internet signal to read Facebook news, and packed medicines, clothes, food, and essentials as the fighting can erupt anytime.27 Another resident in Khin-U township, subject to brutal military junta's military offensives, said that people fled from the villages, leaving their rice buried in soil or stored at a monastery as they were concerned if the soldiers burned the ration when the regime troops entered the villages. Some villagers sold their rice and kept the money in cash.28 As a result of experiencing gross human rights violations and life-threatening risks daily in the areas where internet access and mobile phone access were cut off, local residents reportedly underwent the psychological consequences of fear and anxiety. A Gangaw township resident said that she was suffering amnesia and loss of appetite at the moment day by day because of the extreme anxiety that was worsened by the lack of information during the internet blackout. 29 (4.4) Impact of Internet Blackout on Education, Health, Economic, and Other Sectors As a country that has encountered both coronavirus pandemic and d'état at the same time, Myanmar is steadily edging towards the collapse of pivotal sectors including education, health, and economy, particularly nudging closer to a failed state. A youthful population in Myanmar resorts to relying on the online education system which plays an important role in its future. Nevertheless, local students found it difficult to continue learning on that platform as the military junta cut internet access for several months in neighbouring areas of conflict-hit areas where it launched military offensives. A student girl from Yinmabin township said, "Regard education in our country, you know, before the coup, students had returned to their native villages and some students had kept learning online when the coronavirus pandemic had erupted. … After the coup, the National Unity Government (NUG) organised online courses and programs and the youths attended to learn. However, this initiative could not forge ahead due to the lack of internet. I feel that I am now in North Korea". 27 28 29 Research Interview answers Research Interview answers Research Interview answers 16