part test. Namely, the restriction must be prescribed by law, have a credible and legitimate justification for the extent of the shutdown, and they may not unnecessarily, disproportionately interfere with free expression or other relevant rights.98 Billions of people accessing the internet use it not only for expressive purposes and to access information, but also to undertake other core activities protected by the human rights system, such as accessing healthcare, banking, and education resources; finding housing; gaining employment; and applying for and receiving social services. Therefore, internet shutdowns violate far more than just the right to free expression, as four UN Special Rapporteurs averred about the restrictions on internet access in place in Rakhine and Chin states in February 2020, writing: “The shutdown severely impacts the human rights of over a million people, including the right to safety, security, health, education, food, shelter, livelihood, freedom of expression, information, participation, association and assembly[.] Given that many civilians track the presence of armed fighters and potential clashes, the shutdown can also have serious consequences on civilian protection and, potentially, the right to life.”99 These are the physical dimensions of digital rights: internet shutdowns present not merely abstract threats to expressive rights, but also have very real-world implications. Some of these implicate loss of liberty: Myanmar has imprisoned multiple activists for speaking out against the shutdown it pursued in Rakhine and Chin states.100 Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the risks to the rights of health and life that the Special Rapporteurs highlighted above: where people are unable to access information about the virus, public health, and prevalence in their communities, they are unable to adequately protect themselves. 98 ICCPR Article 19(3) “UN experts concerned at surge in civilian casualties in northwest Myanmar after internet shutdown,” Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, February 18, 2020, https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25572&LangID=E. 99 100 “Myanmar: drop charges against activist poet Maung Saungkha,” Access Now, September 2, 2020, https://www.accessnow.org/myanmar-drop-charges-against-activist-poet-maung-saungkha/. 24