YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Myanmar’s new military government has blocked access to Facebook as opposition to Monday’s coup rose over calls for civil disobedience to protest the ousting of the elected civilian government and its leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Facebook is especially popular in Myanmar, and the deposed government has made regular public announcements on the social media site.
Internet users said the outage started late on Wednesday evening, and mobile service provider Telenor Myanmar confirmed in a statement that cellular operators and ISPs in Myanmar had received a directive from the Communications Ministry to temporarily block Facebook.
Telenor Myanmar, which is part of Norway’s Telenor Group, said it would comply, although it was concerned that the warrant was a human rights violation.
Telecom providers in Myanmar have been ordered to temporarily block Facebook. We urge 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 that was impeached during the coup on Monday and other activists in Myanmar have called for a campaign of civil disobedience to oppose the takeover. At the forefront are medical personnel who have declared they will not work for the military government and who are highly respected for their work during the coronavirus pandemic burdening the country’s dangerously inadequate health system.
For a second night on Wednesday, residents of Yangon were involved in “ noise protests, ” with people hitting pots and pans and honking car horns under cover of darkness. And the recent protests have revived a song closely related to the failed 1988 uprising against the military dictatorship. Myanmar was under military rule for five decades following a 1962 coup, and Suu Kyi’s five years as a leader is its most democratic period.
Videos posted on social media showed that medical personnel appeared to sing mainly the song ‘Kabar Makyay Bu’ – or ‘We Will’t Be Satisfied Until the End of the World’ – which is sung to the tune of ‘Dust in the Wind , ”A 1977 song by the American rock group Kansas.
The protest movement seemed to have gotten a boost from the way the government treated the highly popular Suu Kyi, who was detained along with other government leaders on Monday. Her party said on Wednesday she was charged with the possession of illegally imported two-way radios – believed to be used by her bodyguards – found at her home in the capital, Naypyitaw.
The charge would allow her to be legally held in custody until at least February 15th. The deposed president Win Myint is being held on separate charges. Suu Kyi is believed to be under house arrest in her hometown, where she was held after the military detained her.
The charges against Suu Kyi included a prison sentence of up to three years.