10 January 2025

The military government has made several previous attempts to restrict online traffic. Users of most free VPN services found themselves unable to connect in May last year, and some people whose phones were found to have VPN apps were fined and detained.

Around that time the Transport and Communications Ministry told telecom companies and internet service providers that access to Facebook, Instagram, X/Twitter, WhatsApp and VPN services was banned.

There have also been actions to block websites and apps at the network level, keeping end users from accessing content the army doesn’t want them to see. Technology from Myanmar's allies China and Russia is used for monitoring and censorship purposes.

The new law calls for sanctions, including warnings, fines, suspensions blacklisting and potentially closure for digital platform service providers who fail to comply with the rules. Unauthorised VPN provision could mean imprisonment or a fine as well as seizure of equipment. The new law also targets anyone who builds an online gambling system without obtaining official permission.

Resistance to the Myanmar military has relied heavily on social media. The Telegram chat and social networking app is reportedly particularly active.