This story was created in collaboration with Coda Story.
A month after Myanmar’s military seized power in a bloodless coup and declared a year of emergency, the daily protests continue to shake towns and villages across the country. Now, in addition to spreading their anger, an underground movement of pro-democracy activists has unleashed a range of new digital tools on the military and police.
Myanmar’s powerful military has long held firm control of the country’s finances by investing in a number of lucrative sectors, including mining, tobacco, garment manufacturing and banking.
The February 1 power grab, which ousted the elected government of leader Aung San Suu Kyi, has exposed links with a number of companies. International and local companies linked to the security forces are under increasing pressure from activists who say the companies are complicit in war crimes committed by the armed forces.
A recent investigation by Amnesty International found that shareholders of a secret business conglomerate called Myanma Economic Holdings Limited – which has links with international companies such as Japanese beverage giant Kirin Holdings and INNO Group, a South Korean real estate developer – have received payments of up to $ 18 billion over 20 years.
Last week, Kirin Holdings announced it would be terminating its partnership with a brewery partially owned by military generals. In a statement, the company said it was “deeply concerned” about the military’s recent actions and “is taking urgent steps to enforce this termination.”
The focus on companies affiliated with the military has led to the release of new mobile apps from activists in Myanmar seeking to weaken the income of the now ruling junta. Last week, the Yangon-based company Genxyz launched an app called Way Way Nay (Stay Away). It contains 250 companies, including financial institutions, retail groups, construction companies, media outlets and manufacturers of health and beauty products with ties to the military.
Available on both Google Play and Apple’s App Store, Way Way Nay has been downloaded 70,000 times since launch.
In an interview, the app’s operations manager, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said he was looking to add an additional 450 companies to the list. “We wanted to be able to show ordinary people in Myanmar how the military is connected to all aspects of daily life. We thought an app would be a great way to remind people of what to boycott when looking for products or services. “
The military’s efforts to quell the largest protests for democracy in Myanmar in more than a decade have led to increasingly repressive action over the past month. Human rights organizations say more than 50 people have died and nearly 1,700 people have been detained since the armed forces took control of the country.
At least 38 people were killed on Wednesday when security forces fired on protesters in multiple cities and towns across the country. Video footage apparently taken by residents of Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, appeared to show security officials shooting a man at a close distance. In a separate incident, camera footage published by Radio Free Asia showed that police assaulted and detained three ambulance personnel.
The seriousness of the official response to the protests marks the hardening of the junta’s stance towards daily demonstrations that have paralyzed the economy and large parts of the country. On Thursday, Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, called on Myanmar’s security forces to end their “brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters” and urged the military to kill hundreds of people. who are believed to have been improperly detained since February 1.
Launched March 3 on Android, Blacklist Myanmar is a guide for shoppers who want to avoid businesses whose sales benefit Myanmar’s armed forces. Blacklist Myanmar also allows users to submit new suggestions for businesses to boycott through an in-app email feature.
The creator of Blacklist Myanmar, who asked to go under the pseudonym Red Warrior, explained that the app was designed to limit the military’s access to various revenue streams. “In the long run, the reason they have all the power and influence is because of these companies and brands that promote them,” he said.
‘If people don’t support these brands or services, our money won’t go to the military regime. We can slowly diminish their monopolizing influence on the land. “
Myanmar’s digital activists have also created apps to warn ordinary citizens and protesters of the increased presence of police and troops on the streets. Myanmar Live Map launched on Android on February 11 and uses real-time user data to highlight areas with a high concentration of security personnel. The app, which already has 40,000 users, also reveals the locations of water cannons, roadblocks and ambulances. All data is fact-checked by moderators before being uploaded.
One of the makers of Myanmar Live Map told me that the app’s designers were using a similar digital road map used by protesters during pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong in 2019. He added that members of his team had a Anonymously written 70-page document called The HK19 Manual, widely shared by protesters in Hong Kong and recently translated from English into Burmese.
In the past month, digital activists in Myanmar have had to overcome a series of military-imposed internet outages and mobile network outages. On Thursday evening, the British organization Netblocks confirmed that national internet connectivity had plummeted for the 19th night in a row up to 13 percent of pre-coup levels.
Pro-democracy organizers in Southeast Asia say the shutting down of the internet in Myanmar is similar to authoritarian governments elsewhere. Sunny Chou, a former protester in Hong Kong and founder of the human rights group Umbrella Union who sought asylum in the UK earlier this year, said the disruption of internet and data services in Myanmar is a strategy widely adopted by Hong Kong authorities. . “During the height of the movement in Hong Kong, there were a few times when our apps were disabled,” he said. “Telegram was also attacked a few times, so the protesters could not communicate properly and organize their response.”
However, as demonstrations for democracy in Myanmar gained momentum, the country’s digital uprising has also sparked interest among online and offline activists in the region. In Thailand, Cambodia and Hong Kong – places all rocked by pro-democracy protests in recent years – an informal but vigilant alliance of like-minded campaigners has used the internet to highlight the ongoing violence in Myanmar. their own oppressive regimes.
Sina Wittayawiroj is a Bangkok visual designer and activist who first took an interest in his country’s pro-democracy movement in January 2019 when protesters took to the streets after the country’s ruling military junta indicated that long-delayed elections would be are delayed for the fifth time in five years.
Activists such as Wittayawiroj have rallied on social media and spread satirically memes and advice to mark the violence in Myanmar under the hashtag #MilkTeaAlliance, named after a sweet drink popular across the region. Many who follow the hashtag share a common fear of China’s dominance in the region. In Thailand, for example, support for Taiwan and Hong Kong has become a rallying point for ordinary citizens who feel their own government is anti-democratic and too close to Beijing.
Wittayawiroj, who works for a video production and streaming platform, said he heard from a Burmese employee about the current crisis in Myanmar. Since the Feb. 1 coup in Myanmar, he has regularly posted illustrations with the hashtag #MilkTeaAlliance. “I talk to them a lot and try to understand the situation people are facing. I understand there were elections, but the military took control. I felt I had to draw something to help them. “
Regional experts say the #MilkTeaAlliance is being boosted by regional pro-democracy movements. “When we had the very popular pro-democracy movements in Hong Kong in 2014 and 2019, the world was watching,” said Debby Chan, a Hong Kong-based researcher who studies China-Myanmar relations. “The activists in Thailand and Myanmar are also paying close attention to what happened in Hong Kong at the time.”
“When some Hong Kongers witness Thai and Myanmar activists in their fight, we see ourselves in their movements,” she added.
This story was created in collaboration with Coda Story.