5/17/22, 11:25 PM Myanmar’s post-coup Internet: dangers and alternatives   Myanmar’s post-coup Internet: dangers and alternatives BY TEACIRCLEOXFORD | JULY 29, 2021 Shona Loong summarises the views of three commentators on Myanmar’s post-coup digital culture. Read the post in Burmese, available here. Since the 1 February 2021 coup, Myanmar’s military has clamped down on internet use in the country. What repressive tactics did the coup regime use, and did they succeed? How can tech companies and donors respond to emerging digital cultures in post-coup Myanmar? This commentary sums up arguments made by three panellists at RightsCon 2021 on the coup regime’s use of the Internet and key areas of civil society resistance. The panel was hosted by the SecDev Foundation, a Canadian non-profit that supports digital safety research, training, and outreach in support of better digital futures for all. ‘The military knew perfectly well that the Internet is vital to their struggle for legitimacy,’ said Alex Aung Khant, a researcher and independent consultant. Alex was speaking alongside Myo Min Aung, a digital rights activist and a former programme manager of the Myanmar ICT [Information and Communication Technology] for Development Organisation (MIDO), and Saijai Liangpunsakul, a tech organizer who worked at a Yangon-based technology hub before the coup. The three panelists gathered online on 9 June 2021 at RightsCon, an annual global conference on human rights in the digital age. They discussed the ways in which the State Administration Council (SAC, the title assumed by the military coup party), protesters, and the private sector are dealing with Myanmar’s evolving digital landscape following the 1st February coup. The panel made clear that Myanmar has developed a vibrant, post-coup digital culture that contests the SAC’s repressive tactics. However, the anti-coup movement remains constrained by knowledge gaps pertaining to the military’s surveillance capacity. The panellists also called on tech companies and donors to consider their role in maintaining citizens’ access to the internet.[1] Digital repression and the SAC https://teacircleoxford.com/essay/myanmars-post-coup-internet-dangers-and-alternatives/ 1/11