# Myanmar: military cuts mobile internet after seizing power

Published 2026-09-23. Last reviewed 2026-09-22. 3 sources.

Status: in effect, as of 2026-09-22.

What we don't know: The sources reviewed do not give an exact date when service was restored in each affected region.

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.[1][2][3]

- Country: [Myanmar](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/mm) (RSF 2026 rank: 166th of 180)
- Where: MM
- Level of government: National
- Tactic: Shutdowns and blocking
- Stage: Silence (ladder: https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/shutdowns_and_blocking#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.
- Head of government at the time: [Min Aung Hlaing](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/min-aung-hlaing)
- Issue of the day: Not stated in the sources reviewed.
- Outcome: Ongoing, 3 May 2021. As of the May 2021 source, mobile data remained cut in parts of the country, including large areas of Rakhine State.
- Era: The 2020s

## 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.[1][2][3]

Ongoing as of the source reviewed, published in May 2021.[1][2][3]

## What reason was given

Not stated in the sources reviewed.[1][2][3]

## What changed for 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.[1]

## Timeline

- 2021-02: Myanmar: military cuts mobile internet after seizing power

## Who acted

| Name | Role in this incident | Office at the time |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Min Aung Hlaing](https://thewaronnews.com/actors/min-aung-hlaing) | other | Chairman, Myanmar State Administration Council |

## Outlets and journalists

| Name | Kind | Relation |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Aung Marm Oo](https://thewaronnews.com/journalists/aung-marm-oo) | journalist | affected |

## Sources

1. Journalists struggle to work amid extended internet shutdowns in Myanmar, Ethiopia, Kashmir. https://cpj.org/2021/05/journalists-shutdowns-myanmar-ethiopia-kashmir/ (Committee to Protect Journalists, 2021-05-03).
2. Myanmar coup: Internet shutdown as crowds protest against military. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-55960284 (BBC, 2021-02-06).
3. EXPLAINER: Why did the military stage a coup in Myanmar?. https://apnews.com/article/military-coup-myanmar-explained-f3e8a294e63e00509ea2865b6e5c342d (Associated Press, 2021-02-01).

## Claims cited

[1] Editor Aung Marm Oo describing the effect of the shutdown on reporters. 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" Source: Committee to Protect Journalists, 2021-05-03. Journalists struggle to work amid extended internet shutdowns in Myanmar, Ethiopia, Kashmir. https://cpj.org/2021/05/journalists-shutdowns-myanmar-ethiopia-kashmir/ Claim: https://thewaronnews.com/claims/541, checked 2026-09-22.

[2] Description of the shutdown's severity in Rakhine State. Quote: "It's a total blockage of mobile data in the northern cities and rural areas of Rakhine." Source: Committee to Protect Journalists, 2021-05-03. Journalists struggle to work amid extended internet shutdowns in Myanmar, Ethiopia, Kashmir. https://cpj.org/2021/05/journalists-shutdowns-myanmar-ethiopia-kashmir/ Claim: https://thewaronnews.com/claims/646, checked 2026-09-22.

[3] CPJ's framing of the shutdown as one of three extended shutdowns it documented that spring. Quote: "Journalists struggle to work amid extended internet shutdowns in Myanmar, Ethiopia, Kashmir" Source: Committee to Protect Journalists, 2021-05-03. Journalists struggle to work amid extended internet shutdowns in Myanmar, Ethiopia, Kashmir. https://cpj.org/2021/05/journalists-shutdowns-myanmar-ethiopia-kashmir/ Claim: https://thewaronnews.com/claims/647, checked 2026-09-22.

Source page: https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-myanmar-military-internet-shutdown. The War On News, CC BY 4.0.