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Writer's pictureManushya Foundation
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Myanmar's Illegal Junta Cybersecurity Law: ASEAN Regional Coalition Stands Against Digital Dictatorship!


📢 MYANMAR’S ILLEGAL JUNTA CYBERSECURITY LAW: ASEAN REGIONAL COALITION STANDS AGAINST DIGITAL DICTATORSHIP!


The ASEAN Regional Coalition Against Digital Dictatorship stands united against Myanmar's illegitimate junta’s Cybersecurity Law No. 1/2025—a tool designed to silence dissent, tighten its grip on power, and crush the digital freedoms of the Burmese people.

❌ This illegal law is a full blown assault on democracy and an epitome of digital dictatorship!! ❌ This draconian law is not about protecting "national security"; it’s about cementing digital dictatorship! It’s yet another shameless attempt to cloak tyranny with a false veneer of legality while destroying the principles of justice, democracy, and human rights.

🔴 We refuse to recognize or legitimize this regime! Any engagement with the junta enables its brutality and sabotages Myanmar's pro-democracy movement. 

✊ Join us in denouncing this oppressive act. Tell your MPs, your senators, your congress representatives, demand that they take a stand now ‼️ We must protect democratic freedoms and human rights in #Myanmar and beyond. Let's amplify our collective voice to preserve human rights and restore digital democracy in Myanmar. Stand against the tyranny of the illegitimate junta!

Share our Joint Statement widely! Make some noise with us! Scan the QR Code or access it on our website ⤵️

💻 Access our Joint Statement and stand with us in rejecting tyranny and upholding liberty. Together, we fight for a free and democratic Myanmar!

#WeAreManushyan ♾️ Equal Human Beings


------------------------------------------------------------------------ ASEAN (13 January 2025) - Our coalition stands united in condemning the measures taken by Myanmar’s illegitimate military junta to impose the 'Cybersecurity Law No. 1/2025.' It is evident that this law's objective is to intensify the junta's ruthless crackdown on the freedoms of Burmese people and suppress any form of dissent.


The introduction of this legislation is a glaring demonstration of the junta's calculated strategy to cement digital dictatorship—an assault on the very essence of what our Coalition stands against. Through its employment of narratives on ‘national security’ and dis/misinformation, we have seen how the junta warps the legal systems to maintain its illegitimate hold over the nation. The misuse of the legal system by an illegal government is a  mockery of justice, which reveals their desperation to cloak their tyranny with a veneer of legality. No matter how extensively the junta distorts these principles, we see these enactments as shams designed to consolidate power even further. Since usurping power in February 2021, the junta has ruthlessly shattered the foundations of the Burmese democracy by deploying tactics of misinformation and brute force to cling to its illegitimate power. The orchestration of Internet blackouts, indiscriminate detentions, and indiscriminate violence against civilians starkly underscore this barbaric governance.


We warn against any misinterpretation of this law as evidence of the junta’s rightful governance over Myanmar. Engaging with the junta is not merely ill-advised. Any form of engagement endorses the junta’s corrupted power and severely sabotages the struggles of Myanmar's pro-democracy forces. We must collectively reject and repudiate the junta’s pretence of authority. This is an urgent call to spurn any discourse that could inadvertently bestow legitimacy on a regime rooted in oppression and bloodshed.


We implore ASEAN member states and regional civil society organisations to stand firm in their condemnation of the junta’s draconian measures. It is imperative that we reinforce our united stand against any initiatives that fortify digital dictatorship and actively champion efforts that safeguard digital liberties and human rights across the region.


Access the Joint Statement on our website, here. 


Signed by: (in alphabetical order)

ALTSEAN-Burma

Bumi Setara

Center of AI and Tech Innovation for Democracy (PIKAT)

Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA)

ILGA Asia

Manushya Foundation

Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SAFEnet)

Rohingya Maìyafuìnor Collaborative Network

Viet Tan

Women’s Peace Network


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MEDIA CONTACTS: 


Jean Linis-Dinco, Digital Rights Senior Advisor, Manushya Foundation: jean@manushyafoundation.org 


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WHILE YOU ARE HERE, LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR EFFORTS TO #STOPDIGITALDICTATORSHIP ⤵️


  • Access the Report "Dawn of Digital Dictatorship: Weaponising the Law Against Online Speech in Southeast Asia" here.


  • Access the Executive Summary of the Report here.


  • Access our 9 ASEAN Country Booklets here.


  • For more information about joining our regional campaign to #StopDigitalDictatorship in Southeast Asia, and to support our work to restore digital democracy in the region, access our online campaign here.



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About the ASEAN Regional Coalition to #StopDigitalDictatorship 


The ASEAN Regional Coalition to #StopDigitalDictatorship, envisioned in 2020 by Manushya Foundation, is a Global South collective consisting of ALTSEAN-Burma, Bumi Setara (Equal Earth), Cambodian Center for Human Rights, ELSAM, Foundation for Media Alternatives, ILGA Asia, Manushya Foundation, PIKAT, The Rohingya Maìyafuìnor Collaborative Network, SAFEnet, Viet Tan, and Women’s Peace Network. The Coalition’s collective objective is to decolonise the field of digital rights by building collective power and digital resistance. We take into account intersectional feminist perspectives, fearlessly sharing our truths, with particular focus on Global Majority voices, and intersectional class struggles: Women, LGBTIQA+ folks, youth, democracy defenders, and marginalised communities, such as indigenous peoples, people with disabilities, religious minorities (the Rohingya people, Malayu Muslims). We stand in solidarity with one another. We are stronger together by sharing our stories straight from the ground, researching and sharing our knowledge, and working together to envision solutions to resist digital dictatorship and repression, and ultimately restore our online democracies. All this work is essential in order to preserve what is left of the online and offline freedoms we still have, and fight back against continued efforts to diminish those freedoms. We encourage you to learn, mobilise, and act with us! 


Learn more on our website: 




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