Starlink disruptions hit Myanmar amid crackdown on cyber scam hubs

Thousands of residents and resistance fighters in Myanmar are facing sudden communication blackouts after Starlink deactivated terminals across the country. The move, aimed at crippling illicit cyber scam operations, has inadvertently severed a vital lifeline for regions under a military-imposed internet shutdown. According to local sources, terminals have been offline since Thursday in resistance-controlled areas, including Kachin, Karenni, and Arakan states, as well as the Mandalay and Sagaing regions. Service providers estimate that more than 20 percent of the Starlink terminals currently active in Myanmar have been deactivated. Since the military regime imposed sweeping communications blackouts across central Myanmar and several ethnic borderland states in 2022, resistance forces, including the People’s Defence Force (PDF), and civilians have heavily relied on Starlink to connect to the outside world. Because Myanmar is not officially licensed for Starlink operations—only Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines hold such licenses in Southeast Asia—users have been forced to exploit geographical workarounds. A PDF member based in central Myanmar, speaking on the condition of anonymity, noted that while they possess backup communication services, none offer the wide accessibility of Starlink. The mass deactivations appear directly tied to international efforts to combat Myanmar’s booming cybercrime and human trafficking networks. Users reported that the outages primarily affected terminals that entered the country through northern Shan State, a route suspected of supplying equipment to notorious online scam operations in Karen State’s Myawaddy Township. The service cuts follow heightened regional scrutiny. In late June, unnamed officials from the United States and the Myanmar regime reportedly met in Tokyo, Japan, to discuss combating the proliferation of these cyber scam centers. Enforcement actions have also escalated along the border. On Oct. 25, Thai authorities seized 60 Starlink terminals from a vehicle at the Mae Tao border checkpoint in Tak Province. Officials suspected the equipment was linked to scam operations in Karen State and was being transported into Thailand following military crackdowns on the KK Park cyber scam hub, located 81 miles east of the Karen State capital Hpa-An. SpaceX, the parent company of Starlink, has actively acknowledged its role in the crackdown. Lauren Dreyer, Vice President of Starlink Business Operations, confirmed on social media in October that the company had proactively disabled over 2,500 terminals suspected of being utilized by cyber scam centers in Myanmar. While the deactivations strike a blow to multi-billion-dollar criminal syndicates, they leave ordinary citizens and resistance groups scrambling to restore the crucial communication networks they rely on for survival.