Published on : 05/04/2021 – 12:34
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The Burmese junta has decided to suspend telecommunications and Internet links to cut the country off from the rest of the world and block social networks. Faced with this situation, the demonstrators sometimes count on the disobedience of the operators or rush on the Thai chips.
From our correspondent in South-East Asia,
Today, to connect to internet in Burma, there are still a few pockets of wifi in large hotels, some offices, some apartment towers, but most of the population is deprived of access to the internet and social networks.
A screed of lead thus fell on the country, cut off from the world. This prevents real-time information from being obtained, as previously demonstrators could send photos and videos from the scene of clashes with the police. It was easier to authenticate these videos posted in large numbers on social media and keep the death toll.
Today, between when the photo is taken and when the person can find wifi access a lot of time passes and a lot less people send this kind of information. With fewer sources, it is more difficult to authenticate the images and this weekend, for example, several bodies were found in Mandalay without it being possible to explain what exactly happened.
Military propaganda
The Burmese have little to do with these internet suspensions, but it seems that mobile operators are not fully playing the game and there is always a point in the day when connections are briefly re-established. In the border regions, many already use Thai SIM cards which have become a precious commodity especially in the Karen state bordering Thailand, where, according to the Karen authorities, many members of the Burmese resistance have taken refuge under protection. of the Karen army. All these resistance fighters use SIM cards from the Thai neighbor to continue working.
The battle of social media
Social networks are an important power issue in this fight between the junta and Burmese activists and militants. The military have several media where they can deploy their propaganda.
Recently, several businessmen testified to accuse Aung San Suu Kyi of corruption. These media in the pay of the military portray the demonstrators as a minority of dangerous, selfish terrorists, indifferent to the economic blockage of the country which plunges millions of people into poverty.
This kind of propaganda had worked after the 1988 coup, the soldiers had succeeded in isolating the resistance fighters and the students by presenting them as extremists. Except this time, in the age of networks, protesters can present their own side of the story, tell their own story so as not to lose public support. Provided of course to have access to the internet …
► To read also: Burma, the specter of a total civil war
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