Facebook said on Thursday that some of its services were “disrupted” in Burma, three days after the coup to overthrow the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
“We are seeing that access to Facebook is currently interrupted for some people,” a spokesperson for the company told AFP.
“We urge the authorities to restore the connection so that residents can communicate with their families and friends and access important information.”
Facebook is extremely popular in Burma, where this social network is the main medium of communication. It is also frequently used by government departments for issuing press releases.
NetBlocks, a non-governmental organization that monitors internet shutdowns around the world, said providers in Burma were blocking or restricting access to Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, the latter two owned by Facebook.
“Facebook’s services are currently restricted by many internet providers in Burma, with operators complying with an apparent blocking order,” NetBlocks wrote on Twitter.
According to the NGO, it was the state-owned internet service provider MPT that took the most extensive blocking measures.
bur-sde / ybl / plh
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