10 A NATION LEFT BEHIND Yangon-based media. Article 77 of the 2013 Telecommunications Law One week later, the MoTC was selected to as justification for the measures, which allow serve on the COVID-19 emergency response for such services to be suspended in a time of committee, one of the duties of which is to emergency.25 Government officials have since take legal action against the spread of alleged defended the blackout as being a security misinformation. The placement of the ministry measure implemented in “the public interest.”26 on the committee essentially opened the door At the time it was issued, the order immediately to ordering further blocks on information and gave way to intensified attacks by the Myanmar news in the name of fighting the pandemic. military in the areas in question, just as the most An Internet blackout instituted by the recent MoTC order has done, a phenomenon NLD government in June 2019 persists in outlined in the following sections of this paper. eight22 conflict-affected townships in northern The government’s refusal to lift the block- Rakhine and southern Chin States, leaving ade during the deteriorating humanitarian communities in these areas without the ability context serves Myanmar military interests of to receive updates on either the ongoing civil silencing the region, but stands in contrast to war or the coronavirus pandemic, a move the UN Office for the High Commissioner on condemned widely by civil society23 as well as by Human Rights (OHCHR) designation of inter- former UN Special Rapporteur on the situation net access as “critical at a time of crisis.”27 In of human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, who Paletwa Township, Chin State, civil society has has called for “mobile internet in Rakhine and resorted to the use of loudspeakers to share Chin States to be reinstated in all areas.”24 In public health warnings regarding COVID-19.28 initially ordering the shutdown, the MoTC cited Despite international and local criticism, gov- 22 Nine townships were included in the blackout, but the government reinstated internet access only in Maungdaw Township, Rakhine State in early May 2020. It has previously lifted the blackout temporarily on other townships, then reinstated it. It is not known when or if it will be imposed again on Maungdaw. 23 Joint Statement Condemning One of the World’s Longest Internet Shutdowns in Rakhine State. 21 December 2019. Available at: https://progressivevoicemyanmar.org/2019/12/21/joint-statement-condemning-one-of-the-worlds-longest-internet-shutdowns-in-rakhine-state/ 24 UN OHCHR. “Myanmar must allow free flow of information and aid to protect right to health in COVID-19 crisis – UN Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee.” 9 April 2020. Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/ DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25783&LangID=E 25 Human Rights Watch. Myanmar: Internet Shutdown Risks Lives. 28 June 2019. Available at: https://www.hrw.org/ news/2019/06/28/myanmar-internet-shutdown-risks-lives 26 Thu Thu Aung & Sam Aung Moon. “Myanmar reimposes internet shutdown in conflict-torn Rakhine, Chin states: telco operator.” 5 February 2020. Reuters. Available at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-rakhine/myanmar-reimposes-internet-shutdown-in-conflict-torn-rakhine-chin-states-telco-operator-idUSKBN1ZZ0LC 27 David Kaye, Harlem Désir, & Edison Lanza. “COVID-19: Governments must promote and protect access to and free flow of information during pandemic – International experts.” UN OHCHR. 19 March 2020. Available at: https:// www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25729 28 Khonumthung News. “Without Internet or Sufficient Medical Supplies, Fear of COVID-19 Reaching Paletwa Looms.” 31 March 2020. Available at: https://english.khonumthung.org/without-internet-or-sufficient-medical-supplies-fearof-covid-19-reaching-paletwa-looms/