{
  "id": 167,
  "slug": "2021-myanmar-military-internet-shutdown",
  "title": "Myanmar: military cuts mobile internet after seizing power",
  "occurred_on": "2021-02-01",
  "occurred_on_precision": "month",
  "ended_on": null,
  "jurisdiction": "MM",
  "country": "MM",
  "continent": "asia",
  "level": "national",
  "type": null,
  "tactic_primary": "shutdowns_and_blocking",
  "leader_slug": "min-aung-hlaing",
  "issue_of_the_day": "Not stated in the sources reviewed.",
  "outcome": "ongoing",
  "outcome_on": "2021-05-03",
  "outcome_note": "As of the May 2021 source, mobile data remained cut in parts of the country, including large areas of Rakhine State.",
  "granularity": "granular",
  "era": "2020s",
  "summary": "After seizing power on February 1, 2021, Myanmar's military cut mobile data service nationwide, leaving reporters in rural townships and Rakhine State unable to send news and blocking large areas from outside communication for months.{c:541}{c:646}{c:647}",
  "what_happened": "On February 1, 2021, Myanmar's military, led by Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing, seized power from the elected government and detained its leaders. In the weeks that followed, the military ordered mobile internet providers to cut data service, first intermittently and then for extended stretches, across large parts of the country. Reporters for local outlets said the blackout made it difficult or impossible to send news out of affected areas; one editor said reporters in different townships found it very hard to file their stories once mobile data was blocked. In Rakhine State, in the country's west, journalists described a total blockage of mobile data across northern cities and rural areas for months. The shutdown compounded restrictions the military had already placed on domestic media licenses and on journalists' movement.{c:541}{c:646}{c:647}\n\nOngoing as of the source reviewed, published in May 2021.{c:541}{c:646}{c:647}",
  "stated_justification": "Not stated in the sources reviewed.{c:541}{c:646}{c:647}",
  "effect_on_reporting": "Local reporters said the shutdown of mobile data made it very difficult to send news out of affected townships, cutting off some regions from outside coverage for months at a time.{c:541}",
  "unknowns": "The sources reviewed do not give an exact date when service was restored in each affected region.",
  "status": "in_effect",
  "status_updated_on": "2026-09-22",
  "external_ids": {},
  "illustration_key": null,
  "pub_state": "published",
  "published_at": "2026-09-23T01:18:58Z",
  "reviewed_on": "2026-09-22",
  "next_review_on": "2026-12-22",
  "revision": 9,
  "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:18:52Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-09-23T02:21:49Z",
  "stage": "silence",
  "ladder_note": "Myanmar's military cut mobile data nationwide after seizing power, leaving reporters in entire townships unable to file; United States funding and access actions have not shut off a region's communications.",
  "country_name": "Myanmar",
  "tactics": [
    "shutdowns_and_blocking"
  ],
  "leader": {
    "slug": "min-aung-hlaing",
    "name": "Min Aung Hlaing",
    "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/min-aung-hlaing"
  },
  "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-myanmar-military-internet-shutdown",
  "page_meta": {
    "published": "2026-09-23T01:18:58Z",
    "reviewed": "2026-09-22",
    "sources": 3,
    "status": "in_effect",
    "statusAsOf": "2026-09-22",
    "unknowns": "The sources reviewed do not give an exact date when service was restored in each affected region."
  },
  "actors": [
    {
      "slug": "min-aung-hlaing",
      "name": "Min Aung Hlaing",
      "kind": "person",
      "role": "other",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/min-aung-hlaing"
    }
  ],
  "outlets": [],
  "journalists": [
    {
      "slug": "aung-marm-oo",
      "name": "Aung Marm Oo",
      "outlet": null,
      "relation": "affected",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/journalists/aung-marm-oo"
    }
  ],
  "cases": [],
  "related": [],
  "events": [],
  "claims": [
    {
      "id": 541,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 167,
      "field": "effect_on_reporting",
      "value": "Reporters in different townships cannot send stories",
      "statement": "Editor Aung Marm Oo describing the effect of the shutdown on reporters.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 383,
      "evidence_quote": "Since mobile internet usage [was] blocked by the military junta, our reporters in different townships have found it really difficult to send their news stories",
      "evidence_date": "2021-05-03",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:18:55Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 383,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2021/05/journalists-shutdowns-myanmar-ethiopia-kashmir/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2021/05/journalists-shutdowns-myanmar-ethiopia-kashmir/",
        "title": "Journalists struggle to work amid extended internet shutdowns in Myanmar, Ethiopia, Kashmir",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2021-05-03",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/541"
    },
    {
      "id": 646,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 167,
      "field": "action",
      "value": "Total blockage of mobile data in Rakhine",
      "statement": "Description of the shutdown's severity in Rakhine State.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 383,
      "evidence_quote": "It's a total blockage of mobile data in the northern cities and rural areas of Rakhine.",
      "evidence_date": "2021-05-03",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:34:25Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 383,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2021/05/journalists-shutdowns-myanmar-ethiopia-kashmir/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2021/05/journalists-shutdowns-myanmar-ethiopia-kashmir/",
        "title": "Journalists struggle to work amid extended internet shutdowns in Myanmar, Ethiopia, Kashmir",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2021-05-03",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/646"
    },
    {
      "id": 647,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 167,
      "field": "action",
      "value": "Shutdown followed the February 1, 2021 seizure of power",
      "statement": "CPJ's framing of the shutdown as one of three extended shutdowns it documented that spring.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 383,
      "evidence_quote": "Journalists struggle to work amid extended internet shutdowns in Myanmar, Ethiopia, Kashmir",
      "evidence_date": "2021-05-03",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:34:26Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 383,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2021/05/journalists-shutdowns-myanmar-ethiopia-kashmir/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2021/05/journalists-shutdowns-myanmar-ethiopia-kashmir/",
        "title": "Journalists struggle to work amid extended internet shutdowns in Myanmar, Ethiopia, Kashmir",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2021-05-03",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/647"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": 383,
      "url": "https://cpj.org/2021/05/journalists-shutdowns-myanmar-ethiopia-kashmir/",
      "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2021/05/journalists-shutdowns-myanmar-ethiopia-kashmir/",
      "title": "Journalists struggle to work amid extended internet shutdowns in Myanmar, Ethiopia, Kashmir",
      "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
      "published_on": "2021-05-03",
      "link_state": "live",
      "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
      "wayback_url": null,
      "wayback_saved_at": null
    },
    {
      "id": 460,
      "url": "https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-55960284",
      "final_url": "https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-55960284",
      "title": "Myanmar coup: Internet shutdown as crowds protest against military",
      "publisher": "BBC",
      "published_on": "2021-02-06",
      "link_state": "live",
      "link_state_since": "2026-09-23T02:35:35Z",
      "wayback_url": null,
      "wayback_saved_at": null
    },
    {
      "id": 461,
      "url": "https://apnews.com/article/military-coup-myanmar-explained-f3e8a294e63e00509ea2865b6e5c342d",
      "final_url": "https://apnews.com/article/military-coup-myanmar-explained-f3e8a294e63e00509ea2865b6e5c342d",
      "title": "EXPLAINER: Why did the military stage a coup in Myanmar?",
      "publisher": "Associated Press",
      "published_on": "2021-02-01",
      "link_state": "bot_blocked",
      "link_state_since": "2026-09-23T02:35:35Z",
      "wayback_url": null,
      "wayback_saved_at": null
    }
  ],
  "revisions_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-myanmar-military-internet-shutdown/revisions",
  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  },
  "cite_as": "Myanmar: military cuts mobile internet after seizing power. The War On News, thewaronnews.com. https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-myanmar-military-internet-shutdown. Retrieved 2026-09-23."
}