companies. Armies of researchers and journalists have made it their daily mission to debunk
fake and false news with the clear goal of building a better society, free from manipulation,
discrimination and repression. Most people have stopped reading or watching military
propaganda outlets and channels.
The မသုံးနဲ့ (‘Ma Thone Nae’) application, which translates to ‘Don’t use,’ lists military-owned
products and services, from jewelry shops to cement, beer and hygiene products. Websites
profile individuals and families who have amassed vast fortunes from their deals with the
successive military juntas who controlled the country for six decades. Others disseminate
photos comparing the luxurious lifestyle of high-ranking military officers with the harsh fate of
the infantrymen of the Burmese army.
Several initiatives to push for defections inside the military ranks were born on social media,
one of the most important being People's Soldiers initiated by Captain Nyi Thuta. The officer
left his base in Naypyidaw on February 28th and became the first military officer to publicly
speak out against the military coup via an interview that was streamed on Facebook. Every
Sunday, the organization holds discussions with defected officers, members of the public, inservice military personnel, and prominent anti-coup figures, which generate over half a million
views every week. One sergeant who defected in September said: “I had to secretly listen to
these discussions on my base. And when I did, it gave me the strength to make my decision.
Hearing Captain Nyi Thuta and others speak made me realize I had comrades on the other
side who would support me.”
Aware of those rumblings, the SAC stepped up its attempt to cut off soldiers from any outside
information. The intermittent Internet shutdowns have surely undermined the opposition
movement and its ability to organize large protests. The rise in data costs carry the risk of
losing many allies who can’t afford to use the Internet anymore. People have responded by
resorting back to analog tools of communication, such as CB radios and leaflets. Run by a
group of Myanmar artists and activists, the podcast Operation Hanoi Hannah is a compilation
of audio stories made from sounds of gunfire, screams of people under attack and messages
appealing to the humanity of security forces played on loudspeakers nearby military bases.
Many media outlets continue to provide news by SMS and young activists launched a pirate
Federal FM Radio which went live on April 1st at 90.2 MHz.
As the battle for the internet rages on, civilians and rebel soldiers will find high- and low-tech
ways to fight on.
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