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The new military leadership in Myanmar has ordered a temporary ban on the online network Facebook, which its opponents used to call for civil disobedience after Monday’s coup. The Department of Transportation ordered local telecommunications providers on Wednesday to block access to Facebook until the end of the week. The platform contributes to the destabilization of the country, it was said to justify.
The former Burmese army seized power Monday night, arrested de facto head of government Aung San Suu Kyi and other politicians, and imposed a one-year state of emergency on the Southeast Asian country. Suu Kyi, who is very popular with the people, is said to have been under house arrest ever since. The new military leadership wants to accuse the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for high treason.
She is allegedly accused of violating the import regulations for communication equipment, according to a police document. Consequently, during a search of his residence in the capital, Naypyidaw, the military found portable radios that were illegally imported and used without permission. Suu Kyi could face several years in prison if convicted.
Since the coup, calls for civil disobedience and videos of protests have gone viral on Facebook. The platform is much more popular than other Internet platforms such as Twitter in the country of 54 million inhabitants. Many Facebook users shared videos of residents of the largest city, Yangon, leaning out of their home windows during night curfew and clattering with pots and pans to protest the seizure of power by part of the military.
A street protest has broken out in Mandalay for the first time since the coup. About 20 people gathered in front of the Mandalay Medical School, showed a video on Facebook before the shutdown went into effect. The protesters demanded the release of de facto Prime Minister Aung San Suu Kyi, chanting “Our leaders arrested, release them now, release them now.” A banner read “People are protesting against the military coup.”
