National shutdown
On 6 March 2021, Myanmar's military rulers shut down the country's Internet access as thousands of people poured into the streets and joined protests against the recent military coup. Internet access was restored on 7 March 2021, although some services remained blocked.
- Total Duration 1 day, 6 hours
Myanmar
- Population
- 54,500,091
- UN Classification
-
- Least Developed Country
Freedom House rates Internet freedom as Not Free
Local impact
On 6 March 2021, Myanmar's military rulers shut down the country's Internet access as thousands of people poured into the streets and joined protests against the recent military coup. Internet access was restored on 7 March 2021, although some services remained blocked.
Related documentation
Telenor Myanmar, one of the largest Internet service providers, reported about the communication they received. It said in part:
Directive to block social media services Twitter and Instagram in Myanmar (Fornebu/Yangon, 5 February 2021) All mobile operators, international gateways and internet service providers in Myanmar received a directive on 5 February 2021 from the Myanmar Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC) to, until further notice, block the social media platforms Twitter and Instagram. This comes in addition to the current temporary block of Facebook.
On 7 February 2021, Telenor Myanmar reported that service had been restored.
Other supporting information
Google Transparency Report data for web search in Myanmar
CAIDA IODA data on Myanmar showing two disruptions occurring less than a week apart, with the disruption of 6 Feb. covering most of the traffic and BGP announcements of the country.
Oracle's Internet Intelligence data on Myanmar
Social media
After widespread social media blocking, #Myanmar is now experiencing another major #Internet #outage. IODA's data shows that connectivity dropped at ~2:20 AM (UTC) and the outage is ongoing.
— IODA (@IODA_live) February 6, 2021
Track the outage's status here:https://t.co/LeNO5oUF9O#MyanmarCoup #KeepItOn pic.twitter.com/DtBatRWko9
Internet in #Myanmar still completely down after more than 12hrs.
— Doug Madory (also on Bluesky) (@DougMadory) February 6, 2021
This is now the longest internet shutdown in Myanmar since 2007. (ref: https://t.co/L5YX2O1fYT)
Graphic based on netflow data from @kentikinc. #KeepItOn #myanmarmilitarycoup pic.twitter.com/r0BhSe4fMv
Internet has been completely shutdown in #Myanmar, raising grave concern for millions of residents.
— Access Now (@accessnow) February 6, 2021
The global community cannot see what’s happening to people under military rule in a nation with a devastating history of military violence. #KeepItOn https://t.co/LrvftZdwai pic.twitter.com/IgX6am8cUT
UPDATE: INTERNET GATEWAYS WERE TOLD TO SHUT DOWN IN NEXT 30 MINUTES- TELENOR MYANMAR
— Hnin Zaw (@hninyadanazaw) February 6, 2021