People gather outside the Chinese Embassy in Yangon to protest. The placard reads, “Please ask the internet technicians from China to leave now” (Feb. 9, 2021 Reuters)
Myanmar’s coup military government is about to pass a tough cyber censorship bill that has sparked widespread opposition from the domestic and international community. A cybersecurity expert in Yangon said in an interview with the Voice of America that China has provided the necessary technical assistance to the Burmese military to build a cyber firewall.
The cybersecurity expert said Chinese IT technicians and hardware equipment have arrived in Myanmar at the request of the military government to work with the military to implement the so-called cybersecurity law as soon as possible to suppress dissident and pro-democracy protests on the Internet.
These are all firewall equipment from China,” the interviewee said. These firewalls started being sent to ISPs in the past two days, as well as to telecom operators such as Ooredoo and Telenor. All of these (firewall devices) were instructed to be operational by Feb. 15.”
A 36-page copy of the proposed bill obtained by Reuters shows that the law would require Myanmar’s ISPs and telecom operators to store user data at government-designated locations for three years.
The new rules would also require operators to hand over information to authorities “in accordance with any existing law” and give the government the power to intervene in cases that threaten Myanmar’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Individuals convicted of failing to manage data in accordance with the law could be sentenced to up to three years in prison, or a fine of up to 10 million kyats ($7,500), or both.
The interviewee described that the above requirements will be monitored by network firewall equipment provided by China, “The latest technology firewalls have a feature called deep packet inspection. They can access this traffic. You can start to see what data is being transmitted. So I think they are trying to use the latest technology to control the Internet.”
The interviewer also noted that the hardware devices may have come from Chinese telecom giant huawei, but could not yet be confirmed.
Photos circulating on social media Twitter and Facebook recently showed crews unloading boxes of goods from a Chinese flight landing in Myanmar, and people in Myanmar have questioned whether this is technical equipment used by China to help disconnect the Internet.
China denies the online rumors. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a regular press conference on Wednesday that he had not heard of China providing equipment and IT experts to the Burmese side. He also said that “there are false news and rumors about the Chinese side on the Myanmar issue, so please don’t believe the claims”.
The Chinese government has considerable experience in Internet censorship. Residents of mainland China are unable to use Western social media software such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram because of “Internet firewalls,” and Chinese domestic media and social software are subject to strict censorship.
At the same Time, China has significant economic and geopolitical interests in Myanmar. At a time when the international community is heavily criticizing the coup in Myanmar, China is seen as the main defender of the country’s military dictatorship.
Christopher Ankersen, an associate professor at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University’s School of Professional Studies, told VOA that facing U.S. sanctions and the isolation of democracies, Burma’s military government has a tendency to move closer to Beijing.
He said, “The sanctions and asset freeze announced by President Biden could force Burmese military officials to look to China for more support.”
Opposition at Home and abroad is tidal
Some of the world’s largest Internet companies are joining Burmese civil society groups in opposing the junta’s proposed cyber laws, saying they would violate basic human rights and hurt the economy.
The proposed bill would give the military unprecedented censorship powers and violate privacy, democratic norms and fundamental rights, the Asia Internet Coalition said Thursday. The coalition’s members include Apple, Facebook, Google and Amazon.
In a statement, the coalition said, “This would seriously undermine free speech and be a step backwards after years of progress.”
The statement added: “We urge the military leadership to consider the potentially devastating consequences of these proposed laws for the people and economy of Burma.”
In a joint statement Wednesday, more than 150 Burmese civil society organizations said, “The so-called bill includes provisions that violate human rights, including the rights to freedom of expression, data protection and privacy, as well as other democratic principles and human rights.”
In an effort to suppress dissent, Myanmar’s military government disrupted Internet services for a time after the coup and last week ordered local access to Facebook, Twitter and other social media to be blocked. Facebook has more than 21 million users in Myanmar, almost 40 percent of the population, and is the main portal for many locals to connect to the world.
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