YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Myanmar’s new military government has blocked access to Facebook with increased resistance to Monday’s coup amid calls for civil disobedience to protest the overthrow of the elected civilian government and its leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Facebook is especially popular in Myanmar and the deposed government used to make public announcements on the social media site.
Internet users said the outage began on Wednesday night, and mobile operator 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 the Facebook.
Telenor Myanmar, which is part of the Norwegian group Telenor, said it will comply, although it is concerned that the order is a violation of human rights.
“Telecommunications providers in Myanmar have been forced to temporarily block Facebook. We ask the authorities to restore connectivity so that people in Myanmar can communicate with family and friends and access important information, ”said a Facebook spokesman.
The political party deposed in Monday’s coup and other activists in Myanmar called for a civil disobedience campaign to oppose the acquisition. At the forefront are medical personnel, who have declared that they will not work for the military government and are highly respected for their work during the coronavirus pandemic that is overwhelming the country’s dangerously inadequate health system.
For the second night of Wednesday, residents in Yangon were involved in “loud protests”, with people banging pots and pans and car horns under the cover of darkness. And 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 a 1962 coup, and Suu Kyi’s five years as leader is the most democratic period.
Videos posted on social media showed that medical teams started singing the song “Kabar Makyay Bu” – or “We won’t be satisfied until the end of the world” – which is sung to the sound of “Dust in the Wind,” A 1977 song by American rock group Kansas.
The protest movement appears to have gained momentum from the government’s treatment of the highly popular Suu Kyi, who was arrested along with other government leaders on Monday. Her party said on Wednesday that she was being accused of carrying illegally imported walkie-talkies – believed to be used by her bodyguards – that were found at her home in the capital Naypyitaw,
The charge would allow her to be legally held in custody until at least February 15. Deposed President Win Myint is being held on a separate charge. Suu Kyi remains under house arrest at her residence, where she was held after the army arrested her.
The charge against Suu Kyi carried a sentence of up to three years in prison.