Myanmar blocks Facebook as resistance to coup grows



[ad_1]

Facebook is especially popular in Myanmar and the overthrown government used to make public announcements on the social media site.

BELT

Facebook is especially popular in Myanmar and the overthrown government used to make public announcements on the social media site.

Myanmar’s new military government has blocked access to Facebook as resistance to Monday’s coup increased amid calls for civil disobedience to protest the removal of the elected civilian government and its leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Facebook is especially popular in Myanmar and the overthrown government used to make public announcements on the social media site.

Internet users said the outage started late Wednesday night and mobile service provider Telenor Myanmar confirmed in a statement that mobile operators and internet service providers in Myanmar had received a directive from the communications ministry. to temporarily block Facebook.

In the early hours of Monday, February 1, 2021, the Myanmar military took over the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup over allegations of fraud in the November elections.

BELT

In the early hours of Monday, February 1, 2021, the Myanmar military took over the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup over allegations of fraud in the November elections.

Telenor Myanmar, which is part of the Norwegian group Telenor, said it would comply, although it was concerned that the order was a violation of human rights.

READ MORE:
* People in Myanmar honk horns and bang pots to protest the coup
* What is happening in Myanmar after the military coup eliminates Aung San Suu Kyi?
* Myanmar’s military reverts to its old heavy-handed behavior, and the country takes a big step back.
* Myanmar army seizes power and arrests elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi

“Myanmar’s telecom providers have been ordered to temporarily block Facebook. We urge the authorities to restore connectivity so that people in Myanmar can communicate with family and friends and access important information, ”said a Facebook spokesperson.

The political party toppled in Monday’s coup and other activists in Myanmar have called for a civil disobedience campaign to oppose the inauguration. At the forefront are medical personnel, who have declared that they will not be working for the military government and are highly respected for their work during the coronavirus pandemic that is taxing the country’s dangerously inadequate healthcare system.

A police officer stands guard outside the closed doors of the National League for Democracy party office, decorated with images of Aung San Suu Kyi.

BELT

A police officer stands guard outside the closed doors of the National League for Democracy party office, decorated with images of Aung San Suu Kyi.

For the second night on Wednesday, Yangon residents engaged in “loud protests,” with people banging on pots and pans and honking car horns under cover of darkness. And the recent protests have revived a song closely associated with the failed 1988 uprising against the military dictatorship.

Myanmar was under military rule for five decades after the 1962 coup, and Suu Kyi’s five years as leader is her most democratic period.

Videos posted on social media showed medical personnel especially willing to sing the song “Kabar Makyay Bu”, or We won’t be satisfied until the end of the world – which is sung to the melody of Dust in the wind, a 1977 song by the American rock group Kansas.

Myanmar was under military rule for five decades after the 1962 coup, and Suu Kyi's five years as leader is her most democratic period.

BELT

Myanmar was under military rule for five decades after the 1962 coup, and Suu Kyi’s five years as leader is her most democratic period.

The protest movement appeared to have received a boost from the government’s treatment of the very popular Suu Kyi, who was arrested along with other government leaders on Monday.

Her party said Wednesday that she was being charged with possessing illegally imported walkie-talkies, believed to have been used by her bodyguards, who were found at her home in the capital, Naypyitaw.

The charge would allow him to legally keep her in custody until at least February 15. The ousted president, Win Myint, is being held on another charge. Suu Kyi is believed to remain under house arrest at her residence, where she was held after the army detained her.

The charge against Suu Kyi carried a sentence of up to three years in prison.

[ad_2]