Historically, the Myanmar military is notorious for applying the “four-cut” strategy as a part of its military campaign in ethnic areas to defeat its opponents. The strategy is designed to disrupt the opponents’ supplies of 1) food, 2) funds, 3) communications and 4) recruitment. The military, under General Ne Win’s leadership in the 1960s, used the strategy during its operations against the Karen National Union (KNU), and there have been documents where ethnic civilians proved to be the collateral damage.
After the coup in 2021, analysts, observers and even citizens themselves have called attention to the return of the four-cut strategy by the Myanmar military, under the leadership of Min Aung Hlaing. The coup itself on 1 February 2021 began with the blackout of telephone lines, the internet, and TV channels with the pure intention of disconnecting the people and opposition forces to prevent them from mobilizing any resistance effort. Ruling the country for more than 60 years, one thing the Myanmar generals know very well is that communication opens channels to create bonds among the oppressed that lead to solidarity. Disconnecting was one of the first few things that the new military regime did. We still remember the scheduled internet blackout at the beginning of the coup. With these blackouts, the regime wanted to keep the public disconnected, as well as, to show its power.
However, the world has been operating at a fast pace, highly dependent on technology and social media, and Myanmar with its brief window of semi-democracy has also caught up. Despite the military’s desire to keep the people in the dark, people were crafty in hacking their way around the blackout. Almost the entire population of social media users used free virtual private networks (VPNs) to bypass the ban on Facebook and other social media apps. Some also used Thai SIM cards and turned on data roaming from Yangon to access the internet. As such, the new regime had no choice but to ease up the rigid rules like internet blackouts on the mass population because even the institution itself is dependent on the internet and social media, just like any ordinary citizens. With the restoration of and limited access to internet use, the people’s democracy struggle transcends, Myanmar people receive support from all over the world and diaspora groups show support which strengthen the people’s revolution against the military to this day.
Nearly four years since the very unfortunate February, communication and connectivity in Myanmar have become a major issue once again. When the regime eased up the internet blackout and social media ban in May 2021, it did not seem to know how to prevent people from finding their ways to use the internet and social media. However, in June 2024, the regime with the support of IT experts (and armed soldiers who checked people’s phones on the streets) managed to restrict the use of VPNs in the country, which hindered the usage of social media. Evidently, internet usage was tremendously reduced in Myanmar as users struggled to get the right VPN to get connected.
In addition to the VPN ban, electricity shortage has become another challenge for Myanmar people to remain online. With the limited power that comes with a schedule each day, staying online becomes less important compared to completing other basic needs such as cooking. People try to get the work that requires power done as much as possible in a few hours a day, leaving little to no time to stay online.
Connectivity has become more crucial now in 2024 than in 2021. Due to the military’s enactment of conscription law and forceful recruitment of abled young men into military training, the youth departed with their loved ones and fled to other countries or resistance-controlled territories for freedom and livelihood. The only way for these families to take a glimpse of the faces of their loved ones is dependent on communication devices and social media.
Unfortunately in late 2024, it has become harder and harder to reach the families inside the country. Youths abroad use applications like Viber and Telegram which do not require VPN to stay close to their families. Even though the VPN ban is somehow bypassed, electricity shortage still limits families’ time online. A friend of Mohinga Matters shared that he and his family had not taken video calls for a while now as the family was rarely online. The new normal for him is to leave a text message in the family group chat and expect a response the next day because real-time communication is no longer an option.
When residents from slightly more urban areas face these challenges, there are some conflict-prone parts in the country that have been in a complete internet shutdown such as Rakhine State. Staying close to one’s family in those parts of the country requires an extra effort. A source who hailed from a remote part of the country and currently living outside said that he had not talked to his mother directly for months now. Occasionally, he would start a video call with his siblings in Yangon, and these siblings would, in turn, call his parents via mobile phone so that he could at least hear his mother’s voice. It has taken a village to say a few lines to family members under military rule.
In the past, families were parted for various reasons and communication was not always seamless in Myanmar. Dispatching letters would take weeks just to say hello. Myanmar people had unlearned these communication struggles as the infrastructure and service provision improved during the brief window of democratization. Unfortunately, it seems that we have returned to the state of isolation in four years (equivalent to a US presidential term) of military rule. Regardless of our people’s wittiness or might to overcome any struggle, it is a reality and a truth that the regime’s intentional or unintentional effort to tear families apart is sadly succeeding.
