The Myanmar junta wasted no time oppressing millions of people in the new year, introducing a new and repressive cybersecurity “law” on January 1. This new writ signifies a troubling escalation in the junta’s ongoing assault on basic freedoms in Myanmar, highlighting the regime’s underlying aspirations: to silence any and all opposition to its violent rule and to restrict the fundamental right to free expression.
The internet in Myanmar has emerged as an essential medium for the youth, serving as a space to articulate their voices, aspirations, and the bravery needed to take their demonstrations from online spaces to the streets during the coup days. However, as the junta launched a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population for street protests in reaction to their illegal putsch in 2021, and as it now fights against a nationwide revolution, the junta has employed itsforces to control the internet—banning social media platforms, conducting random checks on individuals’ phones in publicplaces, and unlawfully inspecting the devices they detained.