Introduction Following five years of systemic human rights atrocities, the military regime tried to finalise its coup objectives by holding long-promised elections phased between December 2025 and January 2026. The polls were widely condemned as a sham by the international community and failed to gain recognition from regional bodies, including ASEAN. 1 The illegitimacy of the electoral process was rooted in the military’s deliberate attacks on the information ecosystem. By blocking significant portions of the internet, the military denied prospective voters the ability to exercise their right to seek and receive the information necessary for informed decision-making. Since the 2021 coup, blocking as an act of mass censorship has functioned as a digital barrier between the public and the truth. The military did not just seize the streets during the coup; it also captured the digital infrastructure This report investigates the military’s media blocking prior to the election cycle and analyses the subsequent ratcheting up of blocks during the critical three-month countdown from September to December 2025. By evaluating these changes during the campaign period, the report demonstrates how technical interference was leveraged to manipulate the electoral outcome and secure regime survival. Analysing the military’s blocking regime The architecture of the digital coup was established at 3:00 AM on 1 February 2021.2 Soldiers forcibly entered the offices of telecommunications companies (telcos), television stations, and radio broadcasters, demanding immediate service shutdowns. In the chaotic days following the coup, the public's only viable link to the outside world was through foreign SIM cards, an avenue that was eventually identified and systematically shut down too.3 While total internet shutdowns characterised the early weeks of the coup, the military eventually transitioned to a more surgical strategy of targeted internet blocks. The military first ordered the blocking of large social media platforms including Facebook, followed by X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram. This was followed by blocking of the websites of the country’s largest independent media 1 AP (2026), “ASEAN does not recognize Myanmar’s elections, which military-backed party claims to have won”. Free Expression Myanmar (2021), “Military violations of free expression timeline”. 3 Reuters (2022), “A year after Myanmar coup, growing surveillance threatens lives”. 2 Page 5 of 17