BANGKOK — Myanmar's military government has launched a major effort to block free communication on the internet, including shutting off access to virtual private networks (VPNs) that can be used to circumvent blockages of banned websites and services.
The attempt to restrict access to information began at the end of May, according to mobile phone operators, internet service providers, a major opposition group and media reports.
The junta that took power after ousting the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, 2021 has made several previous fitful attempts to throttle traffic on the internet, especially in the months immediately after their takeover.
Reports in local media say the attack on internet usage includes random street searches of people's mobile phones to check for VPN applications, with a fine if any are found, though it is unclear if payments are an official measure.
On Friday, the Burmese-language service of US Government-funded Radio Free Asia reported that about 25 people from Myanmar's central coastal Ayeyarwady region were arrested and fined by security forces this week after VPN apps were found on their mobile phones.
As the army faces strong-armed challenges from pro-democracy guerrillas across the Southeast Asian country in what amounts to a civil war, it has also made a regular practice of shutting down civilian communications in areas where fighting is going on.
While this may serve tactical purposes, it also makes it hard for evidence of alleged human rights abuses to become public.
A report released last month by Athan, a freedom-of-expression advocacy group in Myanmar, said nearly 90 of 330 townships across the country have had internet access or phone service — or both — cut off by the authorities.
Resistance that arose to the 2021 army takeover relied heavily on social media, especially Facebook, to organize street protests. As nonviolent resistance escalated into armed struggle and other independent media were shut down or forced underground, the need for online information increased.
The resistance scored a victory in the cybersphere when Facebook and other major social media platforms banned members of the Myanmar military, because of their alleged violations of human and civil rights, and also blocked ads from most military-linked commercial entities.
This year, widely used free VPN services started failing at the end of May, with users getting messages that they could not be connected, keeping them from social media and some websites. VPNs connect users to their desired sites through third-party computers, effectively making it almost impossible for internet service providers and snooping governments to see what the users are actually connecting to.
Internet users, including online retail sellers, have been complaining for the past two weeks of major slowdowns, saying they were not able to watch or upload videos and posts or send messages easily.
Operators of Myanmar's top telecom companies MPT, Ooredoo, Atom and the military-backed Mytel, as well as fiber internet services, told the Associated Press (AP) on Friday that access to Facebook, Instagram, X, WhatsApp and VPN services was banned nationwide at the end of May on the order of the Transport and Communications Ministry.
The AP tried to contact a spokesman for the ministry for comment but received no response.
The operators said VPNs were not currently authorized for use, but suggested to users they try rotating through different services to see if any work.
An AP test of more than two dozen VPN apps found that only one could hold a connection, and it was very slow.
The junta is yet to publicly announce the ban on VPNs.
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