Myanmar’s government has ordered the country’s operators to add more sites to a mandated blacklist.
Telenor Myanmar confirmed that the Posts and Telecommunications Departmen had instructed it to block a further two websites that allegedly provided false information relating to Covid-19, extreme weather events, and politics.
The operator noted that the order also applied to privately owned Ooredoo Myanmar, state-owned MPT, and military-owned Mytel. None of these operators have commented publicly on the directive.
In March, Myanmar’s authorities ordered operators to block access to over 200 websites on the grounds that they were providing inaccurate information or otherwise inappropriate content. While Telenor argued that it had no legal basis for imposing the ban, it eventually complied in order to avoid adversely affecting its mobile services.
The Norwegian group stated that it “believes in open communication” and is attempting to negotiate with the government over the blacklist, arguing that the “current practice appears to be incompatible with international human rights law”.
