The government has cut off the Internet and suppressed information, and the young people of Burma are fighting against it with underground publications secretly printed and distributed within the community.
The government’s response to the issue is to ensure that the government’s efforts to protect the rights of the people are not undermined.
According to NetBlocks, the country has been without internet for 56 days after a coup d’état on Feb. 1, when elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi was overthrown, triggering massive protests and a brutal crackdown by security forces that left more than 700 civilians dead.
Lynn Thant, a 30-year-old pseudonym, started the underground newspaper with the edgy name “Molotov” to appeal to young people.
This is our response to those who slow down the flow of information, which is a threat to us,” says Thant.
Thousands of readers around the country downloaded PDF copies of the publication, printed them out and distributed them in Yangon and Wa, among other places.
The risks of doing so are, of course, well understood by Linden.
According to the Burma Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a watchdog group, the military and police arrested more than 3,000 people after the coup, and about 180 other celebrities are on the wanted list, including actors, singers, social media personalities, and people who have been arrested by the police. Some 180 other celebrities on the list, including actors, singers and social media stars, could face up to three years in prison if convicted of spreading dissent against the military.
Wearing the Guy Fawkes mask popularized by the anti-utopian film “V for Vendetta,” Linden told AFP: “If we write something with revolutionary ideas and distribute it like this, we could end up in jail for for many years.”
“Even if some of us are arrested, there will still be young people who will continue to print ‘petrol bombs’; even if some of us are killed, there will still be others, who will stand up when others fall. ‘Petrol bomb’ will continue to exist until the day the revolution succeeds.”
He said that “Petrol Bomb” can currently reach more than 30,000 people through Facebook, and its main readers are Gen Z social activists. In addition, the publication has been circulated in vegetable markets, out of sight of the authorities.
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