Guest contribution by Sai Arkar (follow him on X.com)
The Myanmar junta wasted no time oppressing millions of people in the new year, introducing a new and repressive cybersecurity “law” on January 1. This new writ signifies a troubling escalation in the junta’s ongoing assault on basic freedoms in Myanmar, highlighting the regime’s underlying aspirations: to silence any and all opposition to its violent rule and to restrict the fundamental right to free expression.
The internet in Myanmar has emerged as an essential medium for the youth, serving as a space to articulate their voices, aspirations, and the bravery needed to take their demonstrations from online spaces to the streets during the coup days. However, as the junta launched a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population for street protests in reaction to their illegal putsch in 2021, and as it now fights against a nationwide revolution, the junta has employed itsforces to control the internet—banning social media platforms, conducting random checks on individuals’ phones in publicplaces, and unlawfully inspecting the devices they detained.
As a human rights defender operating within Myanmar and documenting the widespread rights abuses throughout the nation, the recent enactment of the junta’s cybersecurity law has driven me to approach my work and personal life with heightened caution. Since the initial draft was unveiled in 2021 and was revised in 2022, I committed myself to studying the “law”—which is more of an authoritarian decree— in detail.
The cybersecurity decree has 16 chapters and 88 articles, including broad provisions to “protect and safeguard the sovereignty and stability of the nation from being harmed by cyber threats, cyberattacks, or cyber misuse through the application of electronic technologies.” One of the most repressive provisions is the regulation of virtual private networks (VPNs). The decree also penalizes users who access or share media articles and information from banned websites and social media platforms.
This decree serves no purpose other than to entrench further the junta’s control over its citizens’ online activities. The junta’s ban on social media platforms in 2021 had prompted individuals to turn to VPNs to bypass these restrictions and ensure their internet browsing remains free from surveillance. In response, the cybersecurity decree imposes a licensing requirement on companies wishing to provide VPN services. Those found to be providing VPNs without a license are liable to heavy penalties, including jail time.
While the decree specifically forbids the establishment of VPNs, the general public remains confused about the legality of downloading VPN applications to their devices, and junta forces are using this ambiguity for their financial advantage. Over the past year, we have observed and gathered evidence of the junta’s security forces unlawfully detaining individuals for merely possessing VPNs on their devices, often demanding money in exchange for their release. One 19-year-old man told me that he and his flatmates were arrested and taken into custody for having VPNs on their phones during a nighttime inspection at their residence. “They forced us to show our phones and check if we had VPNs,” he said. “They first demanded money, which ranged between 2.30 and 3 lakh Myanmar kyat [between 50 and 60 USD]. After that, we were taken to an unknown location.” He was only released after his employer paid a bribe to the junta soldiers. It happened months before the enactment of the cybersecurity decree.
On multiple occasions, I observed the junta soldiers inspecting the phones of young people at the packed intersections of Yangon, the commercial heart of the country. Many found themselves compelled to hand over their phones to the soldiers.
The junta’s forces are now regularly checking people’s phones in warrantless searches, and many citizens are removing VPN apps before stepping out of their homes or travelling. This precaution underscores the widespread atmosphere of surveillance and how far people must go to protect their privacy in such a repressive environment.
In addition to the VPN issue, article 72 of the cybersecurity decree prohibits the distribution of information deemed “inappropriate” by junta authorities. Since the coup, my organization, Fortify Rights, has released seven full-length reports and over 300 publications documenting the junta’s war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ongoing genocide of the Rohingya – all of which would likely come under the label “inappropriate” according to the new cybersecurity decree.
This is not an accident or oversight but rather the raison d’être of the new decree. The junta is intent on suppressing the facts of its atrocities and punishing anyone who dare murmur the truth of its illegitimacy. So what, if anything, can be done to fight such comprehensive oppression?
While Myanmar’s internet is becoming increasingly censored and suppressed, most of the rest of the world is communicating at ever-increasing speed and openness. It is, therefore, incumbent on individuals outside of Myanmar who care about our struggle to raise their voices and share the reality of the junta’s crimes. It is also essential that the international community seek accountability for the junta’s ongoing atrocities – the junta’s brazen persecution of the Myanmar people is made possible by its continued impunity. One way to achieve accountability is for International Criminal Court (ICC) member states to refer the entire Myanmar situation to the ICC Prosecutor under article 14 of the Rome Statute.
While the ICC Chief Prosecutor’s decision to seek an arrest warrant for Senior General Min Aung Hlaing is a welcome and overdue move, the scope of crimes the junta leader could be held accountable for is extremely limited, as that request is related specifically to crimes against Rohingya people in western Myanmar nearly seven years ago. An article 14 referralfrom one or more ICC member states would open up the breadth of crimes and perpetrators the Court could potentially investigate.
Although we may be increasingly hard to hear, thanks to the junta’s silencing digital repression, the international communitymust commit to listening to the cries of the people of Myanmar. If they listen, they will hear a nation of people urging an end to the junta’s atrocities and authoritarian rule and insisting on accountability for the awful crimes being perpetrated.
Sai Arkar is a Human Rights Associate at Fortify Rights. Follow him on X.com
Fortify Rights: fortifyrights.org/our-work/
