5/22/22, 12:03 AM Myanmar: Freedom on the Net 2021 Country Report | Freedom House military corruption on its website and Facebook page. 265 The group’s editor in chief was already in hiding after being prosecuted under the Unlawful Associations Act for previous coverage. Other cases in recent years have been aimed at punishing criticism that has gone viral online. In February 2020, Kay Khine Tun, Paing Phyo Min, and Su Yadanar Myint of the poetry troupe Peacock Generation were sentenced to six months in prison under Article 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law for sharing images of and live-streaming their performances satirizing the military on social media. 266 In December 2019, four other members of the group had also been sentenced to six months in prison under Article 66(d). 267 In June 2020, 25 members of Peacock Generation were called to a different court to face similar charges under Article 66(d). 268 In addition to journalists and prominent social media figures, everyday users have had charges brought against them under various laws. High school student Maung Tin Chan was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment in December 2020 for incitement under Article 33(b) of the Electronic Transactions Law, having published critical Facebook posts related to the conflict in Rakhine State. 269 In September of that year, the military brought a case against Thinzar Than Min for alleged defamation under Article 66(d) and alleged disinformation under Article 68(a) for a Facebook post in which she reported being pressured to support the military-backed USDP in the November general elections. She was convicted and sentenced to nine months in prison under Article 505(a) of the penal code in December 2020. 270 From 2019 to 2020, there were more than 45 criminal cases under the Telecommunications Law and 21 cases under the Law Protecting the Privacy and Security of Citizens. Many plaintiffs in the cases were affiliated with the state, including public officials, NLD party officials, and military officers, while many of the accused were unaffiliated users, activists, and journalists. 271 In May 2019, Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were pardoned after being imprisoned for more than 500 days and convicted in September 2018 for reporting on the massacre of 10 Rohingya men and boys. 272 The journalists had been sentenced to seven years in prison for violating the Official Secrets Act. 273 They were originally detained in December 2017. In June and July 2018, the journalists’ defense lawyers informed the court that they had been tortured while in custody (see C7). C4 0-4 pts Does the government place restrictions on anonymous communication or encryption? 2/4 Score Change: The score declined from 3 to 2 because the military banned VPNs, limiting anonymous communication online. Users’ ability to communicate anonymously has been further restricted by the military since the coup. In March 2021, daily directives banned the use of VPNs, 274 though some orders barring VPN use emerged as early as February 4. 275 The Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) confirmed that multiple circumvention-tool websites were blocked at least once alongside their IP addresses in February TOP 2021. 276 Although the blocking limited some people’s ability to use circumvention tools, they continued to be used by the public. Civil society observers suggested that the impracticality of the VPN blocking was one of the reasons for the military’s shift toward listing approved sites and services rather than attempting to update blocking lists. 277 https://freedomhouse.org/country/myanmar/freedom-net/2021 21/28