Myanmar sets a dangerous precedent with the new draft of its cyber security bill
It has been a year since Myanmar’s military junta blocked Facebook, making it difficult to access the platform in the country where Facebook is equivalent to the internet. But the country’s new cyber bill, which is about to go into effect, could also make it illegal.
Digital spaces have been shrinking ever since the junta’s takeover on February 1, 2021. Mobile data prices are going up, and internet shutdowns and blocks on websites are common. Telenor, the Norwegian telecom company, is currently selling its Myanmar subsidiary because of military pressure to install surveillance tech.
But the new Cybersecurity Bill is about to make this already bad situation even worse.
Labeled as one of the world’s most restrictive cyber laws, the bill actually was first drafted before the coup by the country’s democratically elected government. But the junta’s version is more repressive, and the bill’s legislative innovations could inspire authoritarians worldwide.