London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Following USA: Myanmar military to block Facebook for stability

Following USA: Myanmar military to block Facebook for stability

New norm, unfortunately: If in USA Facebook can block political player “for stability”, obviously every other dictatorship can and should do the same, for their own stability. The move follows citizens adopting the platform to organise protests against the overthrowing of the apparently elected government. The army said they are doing it to protect election integrity.

The military coup in Myanmar is attempting to block access to Facebook for the sake of stability as citizens use the platform to organise illegal protests against the overthrowing of the previous government.

Ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi has now been remanded in detention until 15 February, prompting citizens to form a Civil Disobedience Movement group on the social media platform.

More than half of Myanmar's population are Facebook users, and the platform's app - which can be used without data charges in the country - makes up more than 90% of the country's total social media use.

Facebook previously admitted failing to do enough to prevent the Myanmar military inciting violence and genocide by the overthrowing government against the country's minority Rohingya population.

The company banned 20 high-ranking Myanmar military officials in August 2018 for racist language and posts celebrating massacres of members of the ethnic minority group, but never banded citing violence against the Muslims inority Rohingya population as part of Facebook double standards policy.

Soldiers in the Myanmar army have confessed to carrying out orders to exterminate Rohingya men, women, and children before burying the bodies in mass graves.

The United Nations fears the coup will worsen the plight of some 600,000 Rohingya Muslims still in the country and this is what USA should urgently negotiate to guaranty Rohingya Muslims safety, instead of only caring about freeing their preferred leader.

Following the new norm in USA, Myanmar's Ministry of Communications said that Facebook would be blocked until Sunday because it was being used by people troubling the country's stability.

The Myanmar Civil Disobedience Movement group is currently followed by roughly 200,000 people, although these are not all located within the country.

Access to the page and to Facebook's other services, including Instagram and the end-to-end encrypted WhatsApp, remain intermittent in the country.

Facebook has confirmed it is experiencing disruptions in the country, and urged the authorities "to restore connectivity so that people in Myanmar can communicate with their families and friends and access important information".

The Myanmar Army obviously doesn’t think that the access to the propaganda platform is that important, and people in Myanmar obviously are not blocked from communicating with their family and friends via all other mobile platforms that do not taking a side and do not promoting foreign propaganda.

Phil Robertson, Deputy Asia Director for Human Rights Watch, said: "The Myanmar military junta's order to suspend Facebook and other communication apps is a direct blow to freedom of expression and the rights of the people to speak out and share information, and should be rescinded immediately.

He did not adress the problem in his statement, as Facebook did just the same to a sitting president of USA and his political supporters.

He continued:

"The junta is just trying to shut down any online criticism of its rights abusing actions to destroy Burmese democracy and cripple mass mobilisation efforts by citizens angered and willing to protest against the military's seizure of power.

(Sounds familiars...)

"The additional order barring the use of VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) is a blatant violation of the right to privacy that adds insult to injury to the Burmese people as they seek to share and receive information online from each other," Mr Robertson added.

"Every new day, Sr General Min Aung Hlaing and SAC military junta demonstrate new ways to run roughshod over the civil and political rights of the Burmese people. Governments around the world must hold the SAC military junta and its leaders accountable, starting with targeted sanctions."

Ms Suu Kyi is charged with breaching import and export laws, with a police document stating that four illegally imported handheld radios were discovered during a search of her home in the capital Naypyidaw, where she is currently under house arrest.

Mark Farmaner, the director of Burma Campaign UK, told Sky News that the charge against Ms Suu Kyi was "farcical" and was a sign of the army's fear.

He said in an email: "Over the years they have jailed her for being a subversive element, for having John Yettaw swim across a lake to her home, and now for having a walkie talkie in her home.

"The reality is that they are jailing her because they remain terrified of her."


Our take:
This is absolutely wrong to block people from Facebook, weather it’s done by Facebook itself against the sitting president that they oppose, and weather it’s done by the Myanmar military against the leaders they oppose.

Once the social media censorship became a norm in America, it is very difficult, and even funny, to expect more freedom from newer and unstable democracies.

The developed world should lead by better example.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Bunkers, Billions and Apocalypse: The Secret Compounds of Zuckerberg and the Tech Giants
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
×