For our interviewees in Myanmar and their communities, these physical constraints are very real, given the extremely challenging overlapping impacts of the ongoing conflict and COVID-related movement restrictions. Another interviewee, Thu Htet San, is 20 years hold and just starting her career, and told us that the internet was key for her to build connections. With the shutdown, she said, some of those tenuous but valuable connections were lost, and she faced “challenges in looking for job opportunities.”141 On the other hand, some of those among our interviewees who had steady work called out the challenge of continuing to work in the context of an internet shutdown. When the internet was available before, the shutdown, they cited using email for communication142 as well as to send documents to colleagues.143 They also told us that internet research and online learning, including through YouTube,144 were important in their work. Maung Maung, who leads an organization, also used the internet to “share the latest activities of my organization regularly.”145 Given that the government has restored 2G services to the affected parts of Rakhine and Chin states, it is worth noting that many full-featured social media and email applications and streaming video may still be difficult or impossible to use, meaning these impacts on individuals’ ability to work will persist. Security and Conflict The themes of security and conflict as it relates to internet shutdown is one that every single interviewee in Myanmar discussed at length but was less prominent in the interviews with Rohingya refugees. When asked “why do you think the government has shut down the internet”, ten out ten interviewees stated that it was the direct result of the war between the Tatmadaw and AA. Despite Rakhine State being an epicenter for the resurgence of COVID-19146, the Myanmar military has not heeded the global call for a ceasefire. The numbers of civilian deaths, injuries, and displacements continue to rise as Rakhine and Chin states plunge further into war. UN agencies in Myanmar have expressed concern, stating that more than 100 children have already been killed or maimed in the first three months of 2020 (amounting to more than half of the total number in 141 Myanmar interview 2. 142 Myanmar interview 4. Name changed. 143 Myanmar interview 10. 144 Ibid. 145 Myanmar interview 5. Name changed. 146 Andrew Nachemson, “Racism Is Fueling Myanmar’s Deadly Second Wave of COVID-19,” The Diplomat, September 11, 2020, https://thediplomat.com/2020/09/racism-is-fueling-myanmars-deadlysecond-wave-of-COVID-19/ 33