ASEAN Regional Coalition to #StopDigitalDictatorship PANDEMIC POLITICS: COVID-19 IMPACT ON ONLINE ACTIVITIES In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, in February 2020, the NLD-led government put forward a draft Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases Bill. The document included a provision which would sanction health officials who disseminate certain health information during specified times if it could lead to fear or panic.105 The draft bill specifies that first-time offenders would be fined between MMK 50,000 and MMK 100,000 ($23.8 and $47.7), while repeated offenders can be imprisoned up to six months and, additionally, be fined between MMK 300,000 and MMK 500,000 (equivalent to $143 and $238.6).106 The authorities’ claim was that the proposed law sought to prevent public disorder, as well as the spread of intentionally false information and, at the time of the coup, the bill was still in its draft form. COVID-19 fueled the civilian government’s crackdown on netizens, journalists, and human rights defenders. Throughout 2020, numerous cases were documented where individuals faced arrests for sharing information on their personal platforms about the virus, deemed false or misleading by the authorities. On April 4, 2020, netizen Bhon Myint Moe shared on his Facebook news about COVID-19 spreading into his township. He was subsequently charged under Section 27 of the Natural Disaster Management Law on allegations of spreading false information.107 Three months later, the police charged Eleven Myanmar journalist Aung Ko Ko under Section 68(a) of the Telecommunications Act for “spreading misinformation” following his Facebook post commenting on the Ministry of Health and Sports’ underreporting of cases and delayed news releases relating to the COVID-19 in the country. He was said to have done so “with intent to harm the State image.”108 As reported by ARTICLE 19, in May 2020, the holder of a Facebook account named “Nyan Lin Htat Referee” was prosecuted under Section 124A of the Penal Code 198 on sedition for pointing out the Government’s failure to comply with its own health protocols, including the restriction on public gatherings.109 In July 2020, Zaw Naing Oo, politician of the Sagaing Region, was charged under Section 505(b) for circulating a letter in which he criticised the regional government’s pandemic response.110 Following the coronavirus outbreak, Myanmar launched its own app-based QR pass system called Saw Saw Shar. A publicly available project proposal for its development from 2020 reveals that the app is not only intended for controlling the spread of COVID-19, but also to “provide the information dissemination to tackle the related fake news.” 111 The extent to which the app is engaged in battling fake news is unknown and so is the way it operates to achieve this goal. The NLD-led government also restricted access to information by ordering telecommunications companies to block access to select ethnic news websites, citing the spreading of false COVID-19 news as the reason for such a measure.112 By March 2020, 221 websites which report on “military abuses” and spread alleged COVID-19 fake news were blocked on the order of the Ministry of Transport and Communications. Furthermore, the Myanmar junta has been accused of exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic to justify its coup in 2021. Prior to the coup, Myanmar’s military junta used the spike in COVID-19 cases to question the legitimacy of the November 2020 national elections, citing concerns about public security. During the coup itself, the pandemic was exploited to justify military actions and legitimise the arrest of civilian leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi, based on alleged violations of the National Disaster Management Law. After the coup, the junta continued to use the pandemic as a pretext to limit public gatherings and any uprisings, and to tighten its control.113 Dawn of Digital Dictatorship: Weaponizing the Law Against Online Speech in Southeast Asia