Introduction 3 From February to April 2021, the Centre also contributed expert opinion through a number of interviews, 4 published a briefing note Myanmar Coup and Internet Shutdowns and submitted a set of recommendations to the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI), as part of the virtual regional town hall organised on 8 April 2020.5 Overall, a review of these documents and discussions with respondents and event participants informed the final contents of the report. Finally, this report also benefitted from several internal and external reviews. 1b. Background Since its independence in 1948, Myanmar has had relatively little experience with electoral democracy, as a series of military coups interrupted its democratic potential in 1962, 1988 and 2021. The recent decade of democratic development began following the 2008 constitutional referendum and was seemingly advanced through the general election in 2015. This led to efforts to transition from military rule to a semidemocracy, which was started and led by President Thein Sein, a reformist General. His efforts included opening up the country to the international community after nearly three decades of isolation and dependency on China. He also undertook economic reforms to veer towards a market economy and international competition. His most notable contribution was the release of democracy icon, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, in 2010. Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) won the general election in 2015 but under the militarydrafted Constitution, Myanmar became a hybrid regime where the Union Parliament was composed of 498 elected MPs and 166 military-appointed MPs. From 2015 to 2020, the NLD government proved to be dysfunctional as its military counterpart blocked every attempt at major reforms. These included a motion to join the International Convention on Civil and Political Relations (ICCPR) (2019) and to undertake constitutional amendments (2020) to ensure guarantees on fundamental freedoms for everyone residing within Myanmar, and not only citizens of Myanmar. The Tatmadaw, fearing that they were losing control as the NLD once-again emerged victorious in the 2020 general elections, staged a coup on 1 February 2021. As part of its control measures, it imposed severe restrictions on internet freedoms and criminalised online critics and protesters to deter resistance to the military rule. 1c. Internet Landscape Before the political transition in the early 2010s, internet usage in Myanmar was heavily controlled and monitored by the military regime. Internet censorship and crackdown on internet cafés were not uncommon. The cost of access was high and few individuals could afford mobile phones, let alone pay for mobile internet data. This changed with the liberalisation of the telecommunication sector, introduced in tandem with the political reforms in 2013, when the Telecommunications Law was promulgated to regulate service providers. By 2015, the cost of a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card reduced from US$150, to just US$1.50 (Alliance for Affordable Internet, 2015). As of 2021, four major telecommunication companies operate in Myanmar (Telenor, Ooredoo Myanmar, Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) and MyTel). Internet penetration started to pick up in 2018, by which time 34% of the population (21,000,000) had access to the internet, while social media and mobile connectivity sat at 101% of the population (53,980,000) (Kemp, 2018). 3 During February to March 2021, per media requests, Asia Centre provided expert opinion on the situation in Myanmar for a total of 5 interviews: On the coup d’état in Myanmar, ABC News (2 February 2021), On the Myanmar military coup CGTN (2 February 2021), Why the internet shutdowns CGTN (12 February 2021), Interim Govt Plan In Myanmar Must Include Other Ethnic Groups StratNewsGlobal (3 March 2021) and; Myanmar: Post-coup Tension In Focus South Asia (31 March). 4 Available at: https://asiacentre.org/myanmar-coup-and-internet-shutdowns/ 5 The submission to the FPCI is available on Asia Centre’s website: https://asiacentre.org/wp-content/uploads/InternetShutdowns-in-Myanmar.pdf; this was later included in FPCI’s Joint Declaration which is available here: https://r2pasiapacific.org/files/6545/Joint_Declaration_SEA_RegionHall_Myanmar_2021.pdf 02