Myanmar blocks social media and country has internet blackouts – update

Myanmar is experiencing significant disruptions to its internet connection to the rest of the world. According to NetBlocks, the country’s connectivity dropped to 16 percent of what is usual on Saturday morning. The government also has social media blocked.

The blackouts are reported by NetBlocks, an organization that stands up for internet freedom. At the beginning of this month, connectivity dropped from 100 percent to around 50 percent of what is usual, but then it bounced back. NetBlocks suggested in the observation of the first dip that ‘the disturbance pattern indicates a centrally issued blackout order’.

What is clear, however, is that Myanmar’s new government, installed after the February 1 military coup, is blocking social media. That started with Facebook a few days ago, and now the order has been issued to block Twitter and Instagram. With this, the Norwegian telco Telenor came out, which operates in the country. On Twitter and the Myanmar subreddit, for example, gets a lot of posts about the blockades, blackouts and protests against the new regime.

Update, 23:14: Added NetBlocks observations about possible origin blackouts.

Update, Sunday: connectivity in the country is scrambling according to NetBlocks back, but according to the organization it is unclear whether this will continue and social media has been blocked undiminished.