Pan Pan
The Myanmar junta’s crackdown on social media is causing widespread disruption for civilians, affecting various aspects of daily life, according to Burmese users.
The junta’s move to restrict certain VPN servers for social media apps since May 31 has created significant challenges.
This has hit online businesses, remote workers, and students who rely on online platforms particularly hard, with disruptions caused by blocked VPN servers.
Since the coup, popular social media apps like Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube have been inaccessible due to the junta’s restrictions. However, this time, they’ve gone further by targeting specific VPN servers used to bypass these restrictions.
One online business owner shared their struggles, noting a drop in sales due to communication delays with customers.
“These days, even when customers come to ask, we cannot respond, and they end up buying elsewhere out of impatience. I sell products on my Facebook page. I do not open a physical store, so I am relying on online sales. With poor internet and constant VPN disruptions, it takes longer to respond. I tend to answer customers’ questions and sell at once. I have tried various recommended VPNs, but most of them do not work well. Many people run their businesses online, and these restrictions are hurting our businesses.”
In Myanmar, economic instability is compounding the situation. The Burmese currency, kyat, continues to depreciate, with the US dollar exchange rate reaching around 5,000 kyat per dollar.
Civilians face difficulties due to the junta’s restriction on social media usage.
Moreover, the price of one tical of 24-Carat gold has risen to around 5 million kyat. So, the junta blames the currency traders for the depreciation and blocked some VPN servers to stop the flow of information on social media.
A person also working from home using the internet also mentioned that these restrictions severely affect his work.
“I am a video editor. It causes disturbances when I have to gather necessary data on Facebook and Messenger and communicate with clients. Initially, I struggled like everyone else. However, I bought Premium VPN rather than free ones. This country is going bankrupt where the costs are high, even the internet is not freely available, and we have to pay a high price to use it. I am worried they might completely block internet access later. We might even need to prepare backup communication tools.”
Due to the scarcity of job opportunities and low wages in Myanmar, more people are turning to freelance online workers, and individual independent business operators.
So, the junta’s internet usage restriction is causing more delays in work and business activities and disrupting information flow.
Additionally, people are also worried about the possibility of complete internet shutdowns.
The economic downturn due to the military junta and imposition of conscription is causing many young people to leave the country. Foreign currency in the country is in high demand and the value of the kyat is also depreciating. This leaves the military regime struggling to manage the situation.
