Athens Journal of Law July 2022 engage in student activism rather than getting involved in active politics encouraged students to play the role of civil society actors". 18 The period from 2010 saw the opening up of the telecommunications sector and a rapid uptake in social media.19 Regulation was under the Telecommunications Law (2013), which provided imprisonment for “extorting, coercing, restraining wrongfully, defaming, disturbing, causing undue influence or threatening any person using a telecommunications network”.20 The Act has been used and misused. The military released an even more draconian Act for comment in early 2022. 21 The spread of smartphones has opened up communication to the masses and provided them with access to information. It has also been used over several years by the Myanmar Military (the Tatmadaw) to spread disinformation. 22 These campaigns are used to uphold the state, people and religion. As social media has become ubiquitous in Myanmar, it has become a significant source of information for many. 23 “Many stories start as social media reports and then subsequently reported in the print media,” meaning that “hatred “is stirred up online reported in the print media”.24 Since the military takeover, social media has also been used by the resistance, particularly young people25 and the many ethnic armed groups, officially called “ethnic armed organisations” (EAOs) by the government of Myanmar, to coordinate activities.26 Unfortunately, many of the young activities appear not to be aware of the surveillance of social media by the Tatmadaw or the perils of posting even from the Thai side of the Myanmar border. 27 The proposed replacement Cybersecurity Law is draconian, and for Myanmar citizens, it has extraterritorial application.28 Its definitions are so broad that any activity that criticises the Tatmadaw, the political situation, and even the people’s current social deprivation can be considered a criminal offence,29 as is having a Virtual Private Network (VPN) on your mobile device. 30 The paper will also provide a detailed analysis of the Telecommunication Law and its proposed replacement, the Cybersecurity Law, identify deficiencies and how they violate human rights norms. It will also provide verified examples of misuse of social media by state and non-state actors and the response by social media platforms such as Facebook. 18 Kipgen (2022). KrASIA Writers. (2021). 20 Telecommunications Law 2013 s 66(d). 21 Cyber Security Law Draft. 22 See, for instance, Gleicher (2018) and Gleicher (2020). 23 Ibrahim (2018) at 83. 24 Ibid. 25 Deejay & Wella (2021, 20 April 2022). 26 Tønnesson, Min Zaw Oo & Ne Lynn Aung (2021). 27 Fishbein & Nu Nu Lusan. (2021).. 28 Cyber Security Law Draft (anonymous unofficial translation received by Free Expression Myanmar) (2022) s. 2; Telecommunications Law 2013 s 1. 29 Cyber Security Law Draft (anonymous unofficial translation received by Free Expression Myanmar) (2022) Sec. 91-92. 30 Ibid, at S. 90. 19 311 Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4150894