Protesters hold up three fingers during a demonstration against a military coup in Yangon, Feb. 6, 2021.
The Burmese military launched a raid to detain leader Aung San Suu Kyi and several top government officials. Since the 4th, Facebook has been banned across Myanmar, in addition to telecoms providers who were ordered to block Twitter and Instagram on the evening of the 5th. In addition, Win Tin, considered to be Aung San Suu Kyi’s right-hand man and one of the leaders of the National League for Democracy (NLD), is being held at a police station in Naypyidaw.
According to Reuters, Telenor, which provides communication services in Myanmar, revealed that the military told them to stop letting users use Twitter and IG until further notice.
According to NetBlocks, an Internet tracking group, and people who witnessed the coup by the Burmese military this week, social networking and micro-blogging service provider Twitter was restricted from accessing a number of networks at around 10 p.m. on May 5.
Burmese users also confirmed that they were unable to use the Twitter platform.
Myanmar’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has not responded to this, but has previously stressed that the government blocked Facebook for reasons of stability.
A Facebook spokesman on the 4th then AFP: “We are aware that some people are currently unable to log in to the Facebook service.” About half of Myanmar’s 53 million people use Facebook, which for many is synonymous with the Internet.
Reuters reported that Myanmar’s state-owned Myanmar Post and Telecommunications (MPT) and other Internet service providers blocked people in the country from using Facebook’s services on the 4th.
Telenor ASA previously expressed “great concern” about the authorities’ instructions and said the company had to first block Facebook services as instructed by the authorities.
After Facebook was blocked, Myanmar’s internet users flocked to Twitter and IG to share information, but now the government has blocked them as well.
Protesters hold up three fingers during a demonstration against a military coup in Yangon, Feb. 6, 2021.
The Burmese military launched a coup d’état on February 1, arresting Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint, the substantive leader of the government, on the grounds of fraudulent parliamentary elections last November.
On the afternoon of the 5th, it was also reported that Win Htein, 79, one of the leaders of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD), was arrested at his daughter’s Home in Yangon. He is currently being held at a police station in Naypyidaw.
Win Htein, a political prisoner who has served many years in prison, has been in and out of jail repeatedly for advocating against military rule and is considered Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s right-hand man. In an interview with local English-language media outlet Frontier Myanmar before his detention, he said the military coup was “unwise” and that the military leadership “has taken the country in the wrong direction. The military leaders “have taken the country in the wrong direction,” he said.
He said, “All the people should make every effort to oppose the military’s action to try to bring us back to square one by overthrowing the government.”
In addition, about 200 students and teachers at Dagon University in Yangon protested on May 5, making a three-finger gesture and singing revolutionary songs.
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