iMAP Myanmar 2023 Internet Censorship Report | Page 20 Network Landscape The internet in Myanmar was introduced in the early 2000s when former president Thein Sein rejected almost all forms of censorship by opening internet access for all. Under the new regime of a civilian government, the first internet connection was established.61 After 2011, internet accessibility in Myanmar seemed relatively positive until 2019, when ongoing conflict between the military junta and ethnic armed groups in Rakhine state specifically targeted the Rohingya ethnic group. Since then, Free Expression Myanmar reports that digital freedom of expression in Myanmar declined between 2018 to 2020;62 but after the coup, internet freedom Myanmar in 2023 is ranked 12 out of 100 or “not free at all”.63 Digital access has grown quickly in Myanmar since its relatively recent entry into the digital revolution in 2011. Increasingly affordable SIM cards and smartphones, combined with more internet service providers and high-speed connection access points has led to an increase in connectivity: as of January 2021, there were 69.43 million mobile SIMs connections64 and 23.65 million internet users65 compared to the total population of Myanmar of 54.61 million in 2021, amounting to half the population of Myanmar before the military coup. There were 29 million social media users, equivalent to 53.1% of the total population in January 2021. After two years of military ruling, there were 64.60 million cellular mobile connections, and 15 million social media users, equating to 27.6% of a total population of 54.38 million in January 2023.66 Essentially, the number of social media users has reduced by about half. However, the number of internet users remained stable at 23.93 million.67 The network landscape is illustrated in Figure 3. 61 Beech, H. (2021, March 3). Myanmar’s military deploys digital arsenal of repression in crackdown. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/01/world/asia/myanmar-coup-military-surveillance.html 62 Freedom House. (2020). Freedom in the world 2020: Myanmar. https://freeexpressionmyanmar.org/freedom-of-the-net-2020/ 63 Freedom House. (2023). Freedom in the world 2023: Myanmar. https://freedomhouse.org/country/myanmar/freedom-world/2023 64 Freedom House. (2021). Freedom in the world 2021: Myanmar. https://freedomhouse.org/country/myanmar/freedom-net/2021 65 Datareportal. (2021, February 12). Digital 2021: Myanmar. https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2021-myanmar 66 Datareportal. (2023, February 13). Digital 2023: Myanmar. https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2023-myanmar?rq=Myanmar 67 Datareportal. (2023, February 13). Digital 2023: Myanmar. https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2023-myanmar?rq=Myanmar