Surviving Myanmar’s digital coup

In the early hours of 1 February 2021, the Myanmar military launched a coup to depose the newly elected government. The military’s offline offensive was accompanied by a digital coup intended to prevent people from learning about, objecting to, and organising against the military’s unlawful act.

The digital coup has violated many human rights, including the rights to freedom of expression, information, media, association, non-discrimination, assembly, privacy, and liberty.

This report reveals the lived experiences of censorship among Myanmar’s most active online dissenters working under the digital coup, including journalists, human rights defenders, bloggers, activists, students, and others. It complements other publications focused on dissenters’ courageous responses, and more general or technical assessments of the digital coup, including FEM’s annual “Freedom on the Net” reports.