Myanmar military intensifies social media arrests, reveals 24-hour internet monitoring

Photo: The military junta has stepped up its surveillance of social media in recent months, arresting those who post content they don’t like within days, according to junta-controlled media and independent watchdog groups. (AFP) Mizzima Myanmar’s military has intensified its monitoring of social media in recent months, moving to arrest users within days of posts it deems objectionable, according to state media reports and independent monitoring groups. Details of two cases were published in state-run newspapers on 2 July. In one case, authorities said they had “exposed the truth” behind a Facebook-based extortion scheme in which two women, Nyein Chan Oo and his girlfriend Khine Su Yi, allegedly impersonated a doctor and threatened people with military conscription to extort money. The arrests take place amid a broader atmosphere of fear surrounding the junta’s forced military conscription, with local authorities frequently threatening to draft young people as a means to extort money from their families In the second case, police in the central city of Bago arrested a TikTok user identified in state media as the holder of the “CHEERY NAING” account. The user is accused of spreading content supporting the opposition National Unity Government and the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, parallel political bodies that the military regime has designated as terrorist organizations. Similar cases have accumulated throughout the year. On 25 June a 54-year-old Yangon food vendor named U Kyi had his prison term extended to a combined 13 years over a single Facebook post, according to the Justice Network for Political Prisoners. U Kyi had been released from Insein Prison on 4 March under a military amnesty, only to be re-arrested at the police station while signing his release papers, the monitoring group said. His post had noted that the United States had arrested Venezuela’s president while Myanmar’s own leader deserved similar treatment. In October 2025, the freedom of expression watchdog Athan recorded 15 people arrested for online expression in a single month, including a case in which a man was detained solely for reacting to a Facebook post with a “like.” The arrests follow the military’s acknowledgement that it is now watching the internet around the clock. On 30 June, the regime confirmed it had formed a new committee to monitor online activity 24 hours a day. The committee is chaired by Deputy Home Affairs Minister Maj. Gen. Min Thu, a former military intelligence official who previously oversaw the regime’s interrogation apparatus. Twelve days earlier, Min Thu told officials that authorities had taken action against 21,369 online users between 2024 and May 2026 for “posting political attacks, inappropriate content, fake news and misinformation.” Nearly 20,000 of those cases were prosecuted under counterterrorism charges. The scale of the crackdown is documented beyond the military’s own figures. Independent monitor Data for Myanmar has recorded at least 1,993 arrests specifically tied to Facebook criticism of the military since the February 2021 coup. The group compiled its count by monitoring military-affiliated newspapers rather than court records, meaning the true number is likely higher. The Cybersecurity Law, enacted in January 2025, compels platforms with more than 100,000 users to retain user data for three years and criminalizes the unauthorized use of virtual private networks, or VPNs. A separate Election Protection Law has been used to charge more than 300 people since July 2025 for online activity related to the military’s December-January election. According to the rights group ALTSEAN-Burma, these include cases where a “like” on a critical Facebook post was treated as a criminal act. The post Myanmar military intensifies social media arrests, reveals 24-hour internet monitoring appeared first on ENG.MIZZIMA.COM.