60. These restrictions on mobile Internet services violate the right to freedom of expression and information as they are not necessary or proportionate to ensure protection of a legitimate aim. 108 They inhibit dissemination of information relating to safety and security; prevent civilians from contacting one another in case of an emergency; impede access to basic rights, including healthcare; impede organisations working and delivering aid in rural areas; and undermine the documentation of human rights abuses.109 The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar condemned the shutdown, emphasizing the potential impact on humanitarian operations. In September 2019, the UN Human Rights Council called on the Government of Myanmar to immediately restore internet access to Rakhine State, and to repeal section 77 of the Telecommunications Law. 110 61. Personal data protection is a key component of the right to privacy. The Government of Myanmar is discussing the adoption of a Cyber Law that would include provisions relating to data protection, but it has not yet adopted such a law. Any new laws relating to data protection should include robust provisions on how data is to be protected, including through robust mechanisms of personal data protection, access to information, data classification and data subject identification. Laws should also include rights for data subjects, such as the right to information about and access to personal data, and should place clear limitations and conditions on lawful interception.111 Civil society are concerned that any cyber law may include more criminal restrictions on expression. 62. Recommendations: • Fully protect freedom of expression online, and cease all deliberate interference in Internet connectivity, and communications networks. • Repeal section 77 of the Telecommunications Law. Any restrictions on service in times of emergency should be narrowly defined, subject to prior judicial approval, exceptional, and strictly time-limited. Blanket shutdowns should be prohibited entirely. • Enact a comprehensive data protection law in line with international law in consultation with a wide range of stakeholders, including civil society. Access to Information 63. In 2015, the Government of Myanmar noted a recommendation that an access to information law should be in line with international standards.112 64. Despite a number of consultations and some progress on the development of an access to information law in Myanmar, including the preparation of a draft that attracted broad consensus in December 2017, no such law has so far been adopted or even placed before parliament. Having such legislation is a key democratic need and is an important step to promote the right to freedom of expression under international law. The Government of Myanmar should prioritize the adoption of this legislation, holding further consultations with civil society and making revisions to ensure the draft meets international standards and best practices. 65. The Government of Myanmar has made some efforts to increase transparency in the country. These include disclosure requirements for business, notice and comment periods in relation to land acquisition, and mandatory environmental impact procedures.113 However, a serious concern is the prosecution of journalists merely for possessing government information, as in the prosecution of Reuters’ journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo. For a full legal analysis, see, ARTICLE 19, ‘Briefing Paper: Myanmar’s Internet Shutdown in Rakhine and Chin States,’ 2 August 2019, available at: https://www.article19.org/resources/briefing-myanmars-internet-shutdown-in-rakhine-andchin-states/. 109 Ibid. 110 UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, ‘Myanmar: UN expert 'fears for civilians' after Internet shutdown’, 24 June 2019, available at: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24733&LangID=E. 111 Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business, ‘Policy Brief: A Data Protection Law that Protects Privacy: Issues for Myanmar,’ January 2019, available at: https://www.myanmar-responsiblebusiness.org/pdf/2019-Policy-Brief-DataProtection_en.pdf. 112 145.32 (Latvia)(noted). 113 ARTICLE 19, ‘Report: The right to information and natural resources in Myanmar’, 31 July 2019, available at: https://www.article19.org/resources/myanmar-the-right-to-information-and-natural-resources/. 108 14