On Monday, Wai Phyo Myint, our Asia Pacific Policy Analyst, addressed the United Nations Human Rights Council at its 49th Session regarding the digital coup in Myanmar.
In the Interactive Dialogue with Tom Andrews, the U.N. Special Rapporteur for Myanmar, Myint highlighted how the military is choking the internet by forcing the telco sector into its control; fortifying surveillance and legal mechanisms to target its people; continuing to shut down the internet to obscure serious rights violations amounting to international crimes; and throttling internet access by hiking up prices and registration requirements for data usage.
Myint also highlighted the worsening trend of proliferation of hate speech, incitement to violence, and doxxing by military-linked actors on social media and messaging platforms to the United Nations on Myanmar.
Our statement underscores the need for a comprehensive arms embargo on surveillance and censorship equipment or related intelligence assistance to Myanmar’s military. We also urge tech companies to invest and cooperate more to protect against and remedy rights violations, and call on Myanmar to stop throttling and shutting down the internet.