CYBER THREAT ANALYSIS
Figure 3: Annotated timeline of Tor use in Myanmar, February 1 to 24, 2021 (Source: Tor Project)
Following the use of Facebook by activists in the country Censorship and Media Control
to raise awareness and avoid censorship, the junta banned
According to a 2020 Freedom House report, Myanmar has
Facebook, Myanmar’s most used social media platform, on
a total score of 31 in regards to internet freedom (on a scale of
February 4, resulting in a 7200% increase in VPN use throughout
0 to 100), indicating that the country is not free. The country’s
the country. On February 7, use of Facebook was reinstated by
netizens have encountered obstacles to access, limits on
the junta.
content, and violation of user rights. Furthermore, the country
Users on various forums indicated that the Myanmar military has a total score of 30 on a global freedom scale, with political
was likely searching for those who have Tor installed on their rights and civil liberties scoring 14 and 16 (on a scale of 0 to 100),
devices, which could explain sudden decreases in use between respectively. Historically, Myanmar netizens were able to use a
February 18 and February 21. Many alternative applications were virtual private network (VPN) to circumvent these restrictions;
also recommended by hacktivists so that people can bypass however, in early February 2021, after the military’s takeover of
censorship restrictions, including Signal, Briar, TailsOS, and the the government, it was reported that Myanmar’s military blocked
Brave Browser. Forum users also shared the Mysterium Internet access to VPNs in an effort to stop opposition to the coup and
BlackOut Toolkit, which includes a myriad of tools to unblock pro-Democracy movements. At the time of writing, access
websites and applications, anonymize activities, and keep to VPNs has been restored in the country, but the planned
communication channels open when networks are shut down, cybersecurity bill mentioned above does have a clause which
among other things.
would ban the use of VPNs to access restricted content.
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