Regime arrests nearly 1,700 people for online activity: research group

By Admin 16 Sep 2024

DMG Newsroom
16 September 2024, Sittwe

During the three-plus years since the military coup in Myanmar, at least 1,691 people have been arrested for writing and communicating on social media criticising the regime’s atrocities and/or supporting the revolutionary forces, Data for Myanmar said in a recent report.

Most of the detainees were arrested for postings on Facebook, while there were also arrests for messages or videos posted on Tiktok, Telegram and Viber. 

“The regime’s arrest of critics on the internet is a gross violation of human rights. Blaming someone who criticises the regime is an unjust act,” said an official from the Myebon Youths Association (MYA).

The Data for Myanmar report said that there were arrests for social media posts in 220 of Myanmar’s 330 townships. The highest number of cases occurred in Bago and Pyay townships in Bago Region, Chanmyathazi and Mahaaungmyay townships in Mandalay Region, and North Okkalapa Township in Yangon Region. 

The regime detained 874 people in 2022, 615 in 2023, and 202 in 2024. Most of them are internet users from Yangon and Mandalay regions, where a total of 1691 people were arrested.

The report covered the period from February 2022 to the end of July 2024. It does not appear to have documented any arrests for online activity during the first year under military rule, which began with the coup on February 1, 2021.

“To end those atrocities, the only solution is to root out all dictatorships including the current military dictatorship. The male chauvinism that has been entrenched in society must be rooted out through the Spring Revolution,” Burmese Women’s Union (BWU) General Secretary Naw Khin San Htwe told DMG in an interview last month.

Anyone who makes, shares, or assists in disseminating information deemed to disturb the public can be charged under Section 52(a) of the Counter-Terrorism Law, Section 124(a) of the Penal Code, Section 505(a) of the Penal Code and/or Section 33(a) of the Telecommunications Law, the regime has said.

“Regarding the arrested individuals, Data for Myanmar does not have detailed information on how the military continues to prosecute them, whether they have been released, or their current status,” Data for Myanmar said.

Since the military coup, 27,386 people have been arrested, 20,898 people remain detained and 9,411 have been sentenced to prison, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said in a report on September 17.