4 Policy Brief No. 78 Toda Peace Institute Facebook as the de facto internet Facebook grew in popularity as more and more people accessed mobile data and it came to form the centre of Myanmar internet users’ experience, becoming a near synonym for the internet. Even before connectivity became widely affordable, in 2014, Facebook had hundreds of thousands of existing users, many of whom were accessing the platform through devices belonging to friends or family members. Gaining their own uninterrupted access to Facebook was a key driver behind the rush for smartphone ownership. Smartphones came pre-installed with the Facebook app, which phone shops offered to set up for a small fee.