After Ooredo and Telenor, the last two telecommunications companies in Myanmar without connections to the military, sold their operations and exited the country, the junta took complete control of Myanmar’s telecommunications network. This allows the military to facilitate vicious attacks and block humanitarian aid via internet shutdowns and communications blackouts, especially in conflict zones where resistance is strong. 

Reports reveal that, before bombing towns and villages, the military frequently uses jamming devices installed on military scout aircraft to block all communication networks. In 2022, all 330 townships in the country were subjected to shutdowns at least once, with over 50 townships cut off for almost two years. 

Learn more about internet shutdowns in Myanmar in our report, Weapons of control, shields of impunity: Internet shutdowns in 2022.

Under the guise of creating e-government projects, Myanmar’s military is raising funds and collecting resources to strengthen its massive surveillance infrastructure, pushing ahead with data collection projects such as its national census, e-ID system, and the establishment of a “National Database.” 

The military’s intent is to track and target all those who oppose its reign of terror. So far, Myanmar’s e-ID system contains the personal data of 52 million people , including six types of geographic data, and data from over 13 million households. It’s also believed that the military has collected biometric data, including fingerprints, facial features, and eye pupil scans, from at least 2.1 million people.  

The military also surveils people in other ways:

• Checkpoints, where unlawful arrests occur frequently, restrict people’s right to freedom of movement.

• Random security checks conducted on the street involve indiscriminate inspections of ID documents, phones, and other devices.

• Financial activities are monitored. Radio Free Asia reports that, in May 2023 alone, more than 700 mobile payment accounts were closed.​​​

• An expanded network of CCTV and facial recognition technologies, including some tools purchased from Chinese companies implicated in human rights violations in Xinjiang, has been deployed across the country. 

• People are required to register their devices’ IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) numbers – a technique used by other authoritarian regimes to track and trace dissenting individuals, such as women trying to escape oppression in Saudi Arabia. 

• The Telecommunications Law requires people to register their SIM cards, punishing those who fail to do so with up to six months in prison.

• The military has adopted extensive by-laws to the Anti-Terrorism Law, giving it the power to censor criticisms made against the military, intercept electronic communication data, and requisition people’s location data. In early 2024, documentary filmmaker Shin Daewe was given a life sentence under this law.

• The draft Cybersecurity Law threatens to criminalise the use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), which enable people to use the internet safely and anonymously. 

The junta weaponises Myanmar’s penal code and other laws to unjustly jail members of the resistance, including activists and journalists. According to Reporters without Borders (RSF), 64 journalists are currently detained in the country, making Myanmar the world’s second-largest imprisoner of journalists after China. 

All four of Myanmar’s telecommunications companies are now either owned by the military, or controlled by companies with close military ties, making it easy for the junta to order the activation of intercept technologies to monitor people’s locations or their communications. The four companies are:

• Nine Communications, a Singapore-based subsidiary of Link Family Office and military-linked Nyan Win, which bought out Ooredoo.

• M1 Group, which purchased Telenor Myanmar through its Singapore-registered entity, Investcom Pte Ltd, the majority of which is owned by Shwe Byain Phyu Group, an entity subject to U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions.

• Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications (MPT), a state-backed telecommunications company.

• Mytel, a joint venture between Myanmar’s military and Viettel Group, a multinational telecommunications, technology, and manufacturing conglomerate owned by Vietnam’s defense ministry.

Aside from the self-censoring effect caused by personal communications being constantly and blatantly monitored, the military is also curtailing freedom of expression by making it difficult to access or use telecommunications and internet services: 

• Price hikes and onerous SIM card registration requirements make it difficult for people to access the internet, especially considering the dire economic challenges worsened by the coup.
• Phone seizures and hacking are abused by the military to monitor and target dissenting individuals, as well as their families and communities. 

• Establish and commit resources for a coordinated action plan to provide the people of Myanmar with alternative access to telecommunication services. Local communities in Myanmar struggle to use satellite communications or other means to resist the military’s control and authoritarian grip over communication networks. With a coordinated action plan, people in Myanmar can push back against worsening digital authoritarianism.

• In areas of crisis and conflict, recognize and fund alternative ways of accessing the internet and other communication channels, which are critical for protecting lives and fundamental human rights. 

• Cut off or prevent financial, technical, and other forms of support for the military’s massive surveillance infrastructure. In 2023, the military struggled to secure funding  for its e-government projects from other countries or from international organisations. This was a welcome step and must continue. The international community must deepen its efforts to stop the sale of dual-use surveillance technologies to Myanmar.

• Push technology and telecom companies to uphold human rights and hold them accountable when they fail to provide effective remedy for violations. Governments must not allow companies to profit from the suffering of Myanmar’s people.

• Stand in solidarity with the people of Myanmar. The international community must provide support to the people of Myanmar so they can resist the military’s abuses, while addressing the emerging challenges of building a new nation state.