5/23/22, 2:07 AM Stay or go? Telenor’s Myanmar dilemma | Frontier Myanmar However, CEO Mr Sigve Brekke insisted that Telenor was not preparing to leave the country, saying instead that the shutdown of the mobile data network and limited prospects of improvement made it impossible to calculate the value of its Myanmar operations. But Telenor did not respond clearly when asked how long the company can operate under military rule in Myanmar. “We believe we have made a difference as a provider of telecom services in Myanmar. Our continued presence will depend on developments in the country and our ability to make a positive contribution to the people of Myanmar,” Sandstø wrote in early May. On July 1, trade publication TMT Finance reported that Telenor was seeking a bidder for their Myanmar business, citing anonymous sources. Telenor has since confirmed that it is “evaluating various options”; whether it stays will depend on developments and whether it can “contribute positively to the people of Myanmar”. The news has alarmed NGOs. “Bad news!” Free Expression Myanmar tweeted, adding that the organisation is worried about a Russian or Chinese company replacing Telenor. Justice for Myanmar, meanwhile, has urged Telenor to only sell its business if the buyer commits to respecting human rights. “We are concerned about reports of Telenor’s potential sale of its Myanmar business. If sold to a company that is not committed to transparency and the protection of personal data, the people of Myanmar will be put at greater risk. We urge Telenor to carefully consider the human rights impact of any disengagement from Myanmar,” spokesperson Yadanar Maung said. Given Myanmar’s legal framework and the regime’s focus on crushing it opponents, it is difficult to envisage any company committed to protecting users entering the market. However, Professor Andreas Rasche, from the Copenhagen Business School’s Sustainability Centre, said that Telenor is obliged to consider the human rights impact of a sale under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Human rights due diligence requires looking at actual as well as potential impacts of business activities and relationships. “When selling a business in such a situation to a company from China or Qatar, such potential impacts need to be kept in mind, especially as the human rights track records of both countries are rather poor,” Rasche said. Meanwhile, Telenor says it is doing what it can to manage the risks of operating under the military. “Since February 1, we have continuously assessed the actual and potential human rights effects of our business and taken measures to deal with the consequences”, said Sandstø in the written comment. Cracking handsets Frontier and Danwatch’s investigation also found the regime was using sophisticated digital tools against its opponents. U Khin Maung Zaw, one of the defence attorneys for detained leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, said he has seen data extracted from mobile phones presented as evidence in court against his clients. These clients include U Min Thu, a former member of the Nay Pyi Taw municipal council whom the junta arrested in March and accused of “manipulating” striking civil servants. “Copies of chat conversations from his [Min Thu’s] mobile phone and laptop were brought to court as evidence. The police also found that he had chatted with two co-defendants in his case,” said Khin Maung Zaw. This data appears to have been extracted using digital forensics technology, much of which has been acquired from Western companies. Khin Maung Zaw also defended Reuters journalists Ko Wa Lone and Ko Kyaw Soe Oo, who were imprisoned for more than 500 days from December 2017 for reporting on a military-led massacre of Rohingya men. “In Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo’s case, the authorities [used] software from an Israeli company, Cellebrite, to access the content on their mobile phones,” said Khin Maung Zaw. The police officer involved in the surveillance of the protest movement says that the police have instructions to confiscate the mobile phones of arrested demonstrators, and that they are capable of accessing stored data. https://www.frontiermyanmar.net/en/stay-or-go-telenors-myanmar-dilemma/ 4/9