[ad_1]
Myanmar’s new military authorities appeared to have cut off most of the internet access on Saturday (local time) as they faced a growing wave of protests over the coup that toppled the elected civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Many Internet users noticed a slow disappearance of services, especially mobile service providers, which accelerated dramatically on Saturday morning. Broadband connections also failed later, while there were mixed reports on whether landline service was still working.
Netblocks, a London-based service that tracks internet outages and shutdowns, said Saturday afternoon that “a near-total internet shutdown is now in effect” in Myanmar, with connectivity dropping to just 16 percent from normal levels.
The big outage followed a government order on Friday to block Twitter and Instagram that said some people were trying to use the platforms to spread what they considered to be fake news. Facebook had already been blocked earlier in the week, though not completely effectively.
The communications blackouts are a stark reminder of the progress Myanmar is in danger of losing after Monday’s coup brought the nation back under direct military rule after a nearly decade-long move toward greater openness and democracy. . During the last five decades of Myanmar’s military rule, the country was isolated internationally and communication with the outside world was strictly controlled.
READ MORE:
* Resistance to the construction of the Myanmar coup despite pressure from the army
* Charges filed against deposed Myanmar leader after military coup
* Myanmar’s military plans new elections in a year, following a fraud investigation.
Myanmar coup: Leader Suu Kyi was arrested again after a decade, but this time without her former support.
Suu Kyi’s five years as leader since 2015 had been Myanmar’s most democratic period despite the military retaining broad powers over the government, the continued use of repressive colonial-era laws and the persecution of the Rohingya Muslim minority.
The blockades are also adding greater urgency to efforts to resist the coup, and Saturday saw some of the largest street protests against the inauguration. In what appeared to be the main one, around 1,000 protesters, including factory workers and students, marched down a main street in Yangon, the country’s largest city, on Saturday morning and were greeted by more than 100 riot police. .
Uncredited / AP
Hundreds of students and teachers have taken to the streets of Myanmar to demand that the military return power to elected politicians, as resistance to a coup increased with demonstrations in various parts of the country.
Members of the crowd shouted “The military dictatorship must fall” and “Down with the dictatorship.” They marched with their hands in the air, formed in three-fingered salutes, a symbol of defiance adopted by protesters in neighboring Thailand, who borrowed the gesture from the The Hunger Games movie franchise.
The demonstration ended peacefully without any clashes. It dispersed the moment communications were cut off, and it was unclear whether the protesters later regrouped.
Telenor Myanmar, a major mobile phone operator, confirmed that it had received an order on Friday to block Twitter and Instagram. In a statement, Twitter said it was “deeply concerned” by the order and vowed to “advocate for an end to the destructive government-led shutdowns.”
Uncredited / AP
A supporter displays a three-finger protest salute against the coup.
“It undermines the public conversation and the rights of people to have their voices heard,” said its spokesperson.
Since the coup, social media platforms have been a major source of independent news, as well as protest organizing tools.
For the fourth night of Friday, opponents of the coup and the arrests of activists and politicians who have accompanied it gathered at windows and balconies around Yangon to make a cacophony of noise in protest.
Early Friday, nearly 300 elected legislators from Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party declared themselves the only legitimate representatives of the people and called for international recognition as the country’s government.
Uncredited / AP
Four activists show a three-finger protest salute during their court appearance in Mandalay, Myanmar.
They were supposed to take their seats on Monday in a new session of Parliament after the November elections, when the army announced that it would take power for a year.
The army accused Suu Kyi and her party of failing to act on their complaints that last November’s elections were marred by fraud, although the electoral commission said it had found no evidence to support the claims.
In New York, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres promised on Friday that the United Nations will do everything possible to unite the international community and create the conditions to reverse the military coup in Myanmar.
Manish Swarup / AP
Myanmar refugees in India take part in a protest against the overthrow of Myanmar’s elected government and its leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in New Delhi, India.
He said at a press conference that it is “absolutely essential” to carry out the calls of the Security Council for the return to democracy, respect for the results of the November elections and the release of all people detained by the military, ” which means the reversal of the coup that took place “.
Guterres said that Christine Schraner Burgener, the UN special envoy for Myanmar, had first contact with the army since the coup and voiced strong UN opposition to the seizure of power.
According to the UN spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, he reiterated to the vice-commander-in-chief vice general Soe Win “the energetic condemnation of the secretary general of the military action that disrupted the democratic reforms that were being carried out in the country.
Uncredited / AP
The military has expanded its ban on social media in the wake of growing resistance to the coup.
In addition to the 134 officials and lawmakers who were detained in the coup, some 18 independent activists were also detained, the Myanmar Political Prisoners Assistance Association said, adding that some have been released.
Australia’s foreign minister’s office said in a statement on Saturday that the government was “deeply concerned by reports that Australians and other foreign nationals are arbitrarily detained in Myanmar.”
The statement said the government was particularly concerned about an Australian who was detained at a police station. The statement did not provide details on the identity of the detainees or the reasons for their detention.
On Friday, Suu Kyi’s senior assistant, Win Htein, was detained in Mayangone Township. He told the BBC in an earlier phone call that he was being arrested for sedition, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
Suu Kyi and President Win Myint are also under house arrest and have been charged with misdemeanors, seen by many as a mere legal appearance of their arrest. Suu Kyi was described by her group as being in good health.
