Introduction The CEDAW Committee in its General Recommendation No. 35, which addresses gender-based violence against women, has also highlighted the need for state action to address online gender-based violence and the occurence of it in digital spaces. Reporting on internet freedoms did not feature in comments made with regards to Myanmar’s obligations relevant to treaty bodies such as the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), the CEDAW Committee, the CRC Committee, or the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), as reported on in Myanmar's UPR throughout the three cycles. A review of the three cycles of the UPR shows that internet freedom-related issues started to emerge in the 2nd cycle (2015), when internet penetration in the country began to pick up. Journalists and media workers, as they published their stories online, were among the first groups to face criminalisation due to their digital content (BBC, 2014). The major issues raised across Myanmar’s three UPR cycles were: Article 77 of the Telecommunications Law had been used by the government as a tool to impose internet shutdowns to hinder access to information. Internet shutdowns were implemented in Rakhine State and Chin State and the regulations of online content of telecommunications firms were increased, as was also raised by the SR. Vaguely-worded laws such as the Official Secrets Act continued to be used to impede public access to information. Persecution of journalists, bloggers and media workers occurred under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code and the Electronic Transactions Law. The right of journalists to collect information without being subject to arrest or detention was routinely violated and the government failed to combat hate speech on social and religious issues. By the time Myanmar finished its 3rd Cycle (2020), persecution of ordinary internet users was commonplace (Freedom House, 2021). Mandate holders of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tomás Ojea Quintana (2008-2014), Yanghee Lee (2014-2020) and Thomas Andrews (2020-present), took note of a range of human rights violations. They expressed concerns over the deficiency of the legal framework to safeguard rights to freedom of expression, both online and offline, and the rights to freedom of information. The government’s control and censorship of the media and internet, arbitrary arrests, detention and harassment of journalists were similarly noted. By the time internet usage in Myanmar began to increase in 2015, disinformation and hate speech had become major concerns, playing into the government’s hands as an excuse to impose restrictions on freedom of expression and public access to information. Subsequently, in February 2021, the military coup spelled an end to any semblance of genuine expression freedoms online by cracking down further on the digital landscape. Several key issues related to Internet freedoms have been noted: Persecution of bloggers and internet users - In January 2013, with authorisation from Parliament, an internet blogger was investigated for his criticism of members of parliament, in relation to amendments to the Constitutional Tribunal Law. The Myanmar government responded to these as actions “taken in accordance with existing laws”. Proliferation of hate speech, surveillance, and persecution of internet users - With the liberalisation of the telecommunications sector, there arose a proliferation of hate speech, surveillance and persecution of internet users, journalists and activists over their social media content, particularly that which was critical of the military. Some key instances include the incitement of violence by the radical Buddhist group Ma Ba Tha, pursuant to which the Special Rapporteur experienced personal attacks during her country visit in 2015. Other examples include the prosecutions of ‘The Irrawaddy’ editor Ye Ni and independent filmmaker Min Htin Ko Gyi in April and August 2019 respectively. 04