A year after Myanmar coup, growing surveillance threatens lives

Norwegian telco Telenor announced in July it would sell its Myanmar unit to Lebanese firm M1 Group, later clarifying that this was to avoid European Union sanctions after "continued pressure" from the junta to activate surveillance technology. - AP

YANGON (Thomson Reuters Foundation): A group of young men were recently stopped at a security checkpoint in Yangon and asked to hand over their mobile phones. After being questioned about social media apps on their phones, one was fined for using a virtual private network (VPN).

The crackdown on VPNs, which anonymise a user's Internet Protocol address and help bypass firewalls, is the latest attack on digital rights in Myanmar - alongside internet shutdowns and growing surveillance - since a military coup on Feb 1, 2021.