2021
3 February
EXM Norwegian-owned Telenor complied with the junta’s demands to block Facebook.
4 February
EXM Military-controlled Myanma Posts and Telecommunications blocked access to Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter for 3 days.
7 February
EXM Internet access was restored, but social media platforms remained blocked.
9 February
EXM The military drafted the Cyber Security Law, which violates digital privacy and freedom of speech.
10 February
EXM NLD politicians and 70 UEC officials taken into custody.
EXM News of China's involvement in building the firewall circulating among social media users, which prompted demonstrations outside the Chinese Embassy.
15 February
EXM The Internet shut down nationwide from 1 AM to 9 AM every day.
EXM The military amended the Electronic Transactions Law, making the spread of “fake news or disinformation” online a crime.
17 February
EXM 11 Myanmar Press Council members and 10 journalists from Myanmar Times resigned as the junta restricts media freedom.
EXM The military accused 6 famous artists of using their popularity to call for civil servants to join the CDM and anti-coup protests.
18 February
EXM NLD ousted Chief Minister of Mandalay Zaw Myint Maung charged with incitement and was denied access to lawyers.
21 February
EXM Facebook deleted the main page of the military.
EXM The military blocked embassy roads in Yangon before the planned “2222” protest and shut down Internet access from 1 AM to 12 PM.
22 February
EXM Facebook took down pages of state-run TV channels MRTV and MRTV Live.
23 February
EXM MAH threatened to revoke publishing licenses of media for referring to the military as “regime” or “junta”.
24 February
EXM Union Minister of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Win Myat Aye charged under the Penal Code for encouraging civil servants to take part in the CDM.
25 February
EXM Facebook and Instagram banned the military and military-controlled media.
26 February
EXM Japanese journalist Yuki Kitazumi detained (first detention of foreign reporter), later released.
27 February
EXM 10 local journalists detained while covering the protests.
5 March
EXM YouTube removed 5 channels of military-runTV networks hosted on its platform.
8 March
EXM The military banned independent media: DVB, 7Day News, Mizzima, Myanmar Now, and Khit Thit Media. Soldiers raided Myanmar Now’s office in Yangon, seizing computers (the first media outlet to be raided).
9 March
EXM Security forces raided Kamaryut Media and Mizzima’s offices in Yangon and made arrests.
12 March
EXM The 6 reporters arrested while covering anti-coup protests made their first appearance in court.
15 March
EXM The military imposed a 24-hour shutdown of mobile Internet service.
17 March
EXM The Standard Time suspended operations; Myanmar lost the last independent media and was labeled a nation without newspapers.
18 March
EXM Myanmar’s military regime accused a third person of high treason, CPRH-appointed Vice-President Mahn Win Khaing Than.
19 March
EXM BBC journalist Aung Thura detained by men in plain clothing while reporting outside a court in Naypyitaw.
22 March
EXM The BBC Burmese journalist released after being deprived of sleep for 3 nights.
1 April
EXM The military shut down the country's wireless services, leaving only fiber lines.
3 April
EXM 60 celebrities arrested for opposition to the coup.
4 April
EXM 20 more celebrities charged under the Penal Code.
5 April
EXM The junta raided the Hakha Post, an ethnic media outlet based in Chin State.
14 April
EXM The military charged 19 doctors for taking part in the CDM and supporting CRPH.
15 April
EXM The military arrested 36 protest leaders, celebrities, and activists in a single day.
17 April
EXM The Media Freedom Coalition expressed deep concern with the military’s crackdown on media freedom: 1 2021 attacks against media professionals, at least 60 journalists detained and charged. The statement was signed by 28 states.
18 April
EXM The military detained again Japanese journalist Yuki Kitazumi on a fake news allegation.
23 April
EXM Prominent activist Wai Moe Naing facing a 28-year prison sentence.
27 April
EXM 2 journalists from the Mandalay-based Voice of Myanmar detained, bringing the number of detained journalists to 43.
28 April
EXM More charges including high treason against prominent activist Wai Moe Naing.
30 April
EXM Authorities threatened residents in Kachin State to remove satellite dishes from their homes (with which they can watch independent news) or be fined.
1 May
EXM The military to 'normalize' post-coup economy: partially eased restrictions on Internet access and presented a plan to drop charges against prosecuted civil servants.
3 May
EXM Japanese journalist Yuki Kitazumi indicted on a “fake news” charge, facing a jail term of up to 3 years.
4 May
EXM A nationwide ban on satellite television, fine, or 1 year of prison for disregarding.
5 May
EXM The military abolished additional 3 media outlets – Myitkyina Journal; The 74 Media, and Tachileik News Agency, totaling up to 8 abolished media outlets.
9 May
EXM Detained democracy activist Ko Mya Aye faces hate speech charges.
24 May
EXM The military arrested Frontier Myanmar editor Danny Fenster at the airport and transferred him to Insein Prison. Altogether, 70 journalists detained.
25 May
EXM The military whitelisted 1 200 online services, excluding Facebook and Twitter to curb anti-coup protests.
27 May
EXM AAPP shared a list of 4331 people in detention since 1 February.
28 May
EXM The US pressed the military for the immediate release of Danny Fenster.
1 June
EXM DVB and Mizzima reporters sentenced to 2 years in prison.
8 June
EXM 5 people arrested, including a prominent political activist, a well-renowned poet, and former NLD-appointed Chief Minister of Magway Region.
11 June
EXM Pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee groups formed across Myanmar (with support from the military) to wage a campaign of violence and disinformation.
15 June
EXM American editor Nathan Maung of Kamayut Media deported after 3 months in detention. The military beat him and kept him blindfolded for more than a week of interrogation.
20 June
EXM International Press Freedom Award 2021 granted to Aye Chan Naing, the Chief Editor of the DVB.
30 June
EXM The military threatened foreign media with lawsuits for calling it ‘junta’.
EXM Deputy Minister of Information announced the release of 2 342 political prisoners, who took part in protests but not in leading roles, among them at least 14 journalists, and also 5-year-old Su Htet Wyne (detained on 28 June).
EXM 6 journalists freed after more than 120 days in detention for covering anti-coup protests in Yangon.
5 July
EXM Today was the deadline for telecom companies to fully implement intercept technology to let authorities spy on calls, messages, and web traffic and to track users.
8 July
EXM Telenor sold its Myanmar business to the regime-linked Lebanese M1 Group, added to the Burma Campaign UK’s Dirty List in 2019, for just US$105 million (before the coup valued at several billion dollars) due to the junta’s recent demand to install software that would give security forces real-time access to users’ phone calls, SMS and data traffic (like state-owned MPT and military-linked Mytel are already doing).
31 July
EXM Rakhine State military council said journalists will not be included in target groups for the current round (100 000 people) of COVID-19 vaccinations.
9 August
EXM Facebook removed 79 accounts, 13 pages, 8 groups, and 19 Instagram accounts linked to the military.
15 August
EXM 2 more journalists detained - Sithu Aung Myint and Ma Htet Htet Khine - bringing the number of media staff detained since the coup to 95.
24 August
EXM The regime cut MPT and Telenor mobile and Wi-Fi connections in areas of Mogaung Township, Kachin State.
16 September
EXM 2 more journalists arrested by junta forces, raising the number of journalists being held by the military regime to 53.
24 October
EXM The junta charged at least 6 journalists under the Counter-Terrorism Law and 5 journalists from Sagaing-based Zeyar Times, all were initially charged under section 505-A of the Penal Code this week.
2 November
EXM With the military putting down protests on the streets, a parallel battle is playing out on social media, with the junta using fake accounts to denounce opponents and push forward its message that it seized power to save the nation from election fraud.
4 November
EXM Detained American journalist Danny Fenster hit with a new charge under Immigration Act.
12 November
EXM The US journalist Danny Fenster sentenced to 11 years in prison with hard labor after he was found guilty on a series of charges including incitement. The U.S Department of State and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet condemned this move, adding it was illustrative of a wider reduction of media freedom in Myanmar.
15 November
EXM The junta released US journalist Danny Fenster.
15 December
EXM Journalist Soe Naing died in military custody, after being arrested on 10 December. This is the first known death of a journalist since the coup. The same day the regime sentenced 3 Shan-based journalists and one of their family members to 3 years in prison.
9 February
EXM Internet and phone blackouts continued to sweep through Kayah State.
16 February
EXM Norway’s Industry Minister Jan Christian Vestra announced that Telenor would not be able to prevent the transfer of customer data to the military.
6 March
EXM The junta cut internet access across Sagaing Region where armed resistance to the junta is strong.
7 March
EXM Myanmar’s regime cut internet access across 34 townships in Sagaing Region where armed resistance to the junta is strong.
11 March
EXM Telegram removed 2 pro-military channels from its platform – Han Nyein Oo and Thazin Oo, which have been spreading pro-military disinformation, doxing activists, and encouraging violence.
22 March
EXM Junta courts sentenced 2 journalists to 2 years in prison, one year after their arrests and charges of violating Section 505a of the Penal Code for incitement.
28 March
EXM The junta detained Nay Naw, a journalist with the local outlet Karen Information Center. He was later charged with incitement under section 505-A of the Penal Code.
30 March
EXM A court in Hpakant Township, Kachin State, sentenced 2 freelance journalists to 18 months each for incitement under section 505-A of the Penal Code.
31 March
EXM A court inside Yangon’s Insein Prison gave 3-year sentences to a journalist Phoe Thar and 9 student activists for their opposition to the military dictatorship.
5 April
EXM An internal court in Sintgaing, Mandalay Region sentenced Win Naing Oo, the chief of staff of Channel Mandalay TV, to 5 years in prison on terrorism charges.
24 May
EXM The regime has cut phone and internet services in nearly a dozen townships in resistance stronghold areas in Sagaing Region.
6 June
EXM The junta charged The Irrawaddy’s former photojournalist Zaw Zaw with incitement.
7 June
EXM UN human rights experts, including UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Tom Andrews, issued a statement yesterday condemning the junta’s attempts to establish a “digital dictatorship” (restrict internet access and censor and survey online activity).
16 June
EXM The junta was using the Mytel telecommunications operator to track and eavesdrop on its own soldiers by monitoring their communications and locations in an effort to halt the growing number of defections from regime forces.
29 June
EXM The military detained 3 more lawyers representing junta opponents in Mandalay.
10 July
EXM The junta government installed Chinese-built cameras with facial recognition capabilities in several cities.
20 July
EXM The junta cut off internet and telecommunication services in Gangaw Township in Magway Region.
13 September
EXM At least 15 people, including 2 freelance journalists, were arrested during a crackdown on a protest in Yangon.
15 September
EXM A court in Yangon sentenced Myanmar journalist Htet Htet Khine, a freelance producer for BBC Media Action, to three years in prison with hard labour.
27 September
EXM Freelance BBC reporter Htet Htet Khine was sentenced to 3 years in prison for violating the country’s Unlawful Associations Act.
15 October
EXM The junta threatened to take legal action against BBC Burmese and The Irrawaddy under the communications and news media laws.
29 October
EXM The junta has officially banned The Irrawaddy news outlet and charged its former director Thang Win with breaking national security laws.
30 October
EXM The regime released several political prisoners, including NLD finance minister Soe Win, journalists Zaw Thet Htwe and Zaw Win Maung, singer Po Po and beuty blogger Win Min Than.
31 October
EXM The military banned The Irrawaddy and charged the media outlet’s registered publisher for violating national security laws.
1 November
EXM The Committee to Protect Journalists added Myanmar to its annual Global Impunity Index, ranking Myanmar among the leading jailers of media workers globally.
2 November
EXM Myanmar ranked as 176th out of 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) 2022 World Press Freedom Index.
28 December
EXM Chief editor of Kamayut Media U Han Tha Nyein was sentenced to 5 additional years in prison under the electronic communications law.