Technology: Friend or Foe for Women of Myanmar of time constraints. In the early months following the coup, ICTs helped women’s rights activists expand their horizons and their vision for the future. The interviewees also remarked on the vital role of ICTs for women’s protest movement on International Women’s Day (IWD) in 2021 when Sisters2Sisters campaign groups initiated an online campaign against the junta’s targeting of women in the resistance. The campaign included ‘photo strikes’ and used the hashtags #REDLipsSpeakTruthToPower.” (MIP, 2021) 3.4. Online safety and security Several interviewees shared the same biggest concern – increasing digital surveillance and scrutiny followed by arbitrary arrests and detention by the military junta. Telecommunications providers operating in Myanmar have been repeatedly ordered by the junta to suspend internet access, particularly in areas where a resistance movement has been built up and to activate interception equipment and technology. Internet shutdowns limit people’s ability to report enforced disappearances, unlawful killings and arrests, air strikes on civilians, and gender-based violence committed by the junta with impunity. The junta’s internet and social media restrictions particularly affect those with limited access to information, most markedly women in conflict zones. As one interviewee from a women’s rights organization pointed out, CDM women who are in hiding without access to information greatly suffer from a sense of being excluded and feeling leftbehind, helplessness and depression. Some interviewees also expressed a heightened sense of physical insecurity due to the rising number of cases of petty crimes, armed robbery, human trafficking, and sexual assault. Digital repression poses a significant threat to women’s health and further exacerbates the risks of gender-based violence for women and their access to live-saving information and services. One interviewee asserted that “the military’s digital control not only impedes communication channels that are needed for ensuring safety or seeking help amidst an emergency, but also covers up reports and broadcasts on the human rights violations and atrocities taking place. The junta continues to block access to websites and social media platforms including Facebook, which is a primary channel for sharing information that could save lives.” 37