BANGKOK — Myanmar’s military has imposed repeated internet blackouts, blocked some social media sites and drafted a cybersecurity bill as it attempts to grind down resistance to its takeover.
These moves by the new junta have deepened worries that internet-hungry Myanmar will no longer have access to real-time information, be largely cut off from the outside world and face draconian punishments for online posts.
What has happened since the coup?
The military has so far ordered five temporary internet shutdowns, starting on February 1 — the day of the putsch — when civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi was detained.
In recent days, communications have been throttled three consecutive nights for a period of eight hours between 1 am and 9 am.
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Monitoring group NetBlocks said internet connectivity during these outages dropped at times to 15 percent of normal levels.
Also blocked are social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, where an online campaign to oppose the coup gained steam.
