Government-mandated internet or social media shutdowns, which have occurred with increasing frequency in places like Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Sudan [regions known for massive human rights violations and genocide], are often deemed necessary for silencing the kind of innuendo and rumor that causes online mobs to catalyze real ones . . . . But such telecommunications embargoes can be designed to foil members of the political opposition as well. And they can . . . hurt vulnerable communities . . . who depend on internet connections to keep them out of the crossfire or publicize abuses in remote locations. (para. 2) The media blackout quickly spread to parts of neighboring Chin State when fighting between the Arakan Army and the Tatmadaw began to intensify. It is clear that the blackout was meant to prevent aid workers and NGOs from monitoring the human rights situation without actively targeting them in a physical capacity. The 2013 Telecommunications Law allows the Ministry of Transport and Communications to legally suspend services in case of an “emergency situation” (Human Rights Watch, 2020). This is another example of how the military has successfully orchestrated a legal basis from which it can maintain absolute power if it feels as though its control is at risk. In Burma, access to the internet and alternative sources of information is essential to maintaining the safety of the population and providing the populace with the means to form their own conclusions and thoughts regarding the nation’s political and social reality. Without connectivity, the Tatmadaw can easily manipulate the collective consciousness of the civilian population through propaganda and censorship as well as carry out human rights abuses without accountability. Informants. The use of informants, although more rampant under the SLORC/SPDC regimes, is still used today, offering the military a unique method of control. A crucial aspect of the Tatmadaw’s control lies in self-censorship by the civilian 86