The protests in Myanmar against the military coup continued this week, with thousands of people blocking roads and gathering in the streets of Yangon on early Wednesday morning, to demonstrate their discontent and to ask the release of their leaders.

The “Road Blocking Day” emerged from a campaign on social media, where people encouraged others to halt traffic in a demonstration against the military government. Two weeks ago the military, after having declared the election of November as fraudulent without presenting any evidence, imprisoned Aung San Suu Kyi and other key leaders of the National League for Democracy Party (NLD), effectively overthrowing the democratically-elected government.

PROTESTS GET CREATIVE

However, Myanmar is not the same as it was a decade ago when it began to emerge from military rule. People organise on the internet, use social media to spread information, and have adopted creative strategies to protest in a non-violent way. Despite the coronavirus-related curfew, a ban on large gatherings, and even the use of excessive force by the police, people keep taking the fight to the streets.  

Drawing from the protests in Thailand and in Hong Kong, young Burmese in particular have engaged in actions of civil disobedience by marching as cosplayers, or with their pets, or wearing tiaras and evening dresses, or by using the symbol of the fictional novel “Hunger Games”, the three-fingered salute – now a widespread symbol of the pro-democracy movements all across Asia.  

Now the movement has grown in every part of the country, from the main cities to the countryside, and has included rail workers, teachers, doctors and nurses, bank employees, and the artistic community. While musicians play in the streets, and residents bang pots and pans, making noise in favour of the anti-coup movement,  artists are in fact increasingly supporting the protests by creating political posters and “counter-propaganda” materials.

THE FUTURE OF FREEDOM OF SPEECH

Despite the Burmese peoples’ resistance and creativity, the future of democracy and peace in Myanmar is uncertain.

Although the protests have been mostly peaceful, there have been reported many cases where the military have used water cannons, rubber bullets and, according to some reports and local doctors, even real bullets on protesters.  

As the State Administrative Council Chairman and Commander-in-Chief, General Min Aung Hlaing, released a statement warning on future actions to prevent further demonstrations, it seems unlikely that the protests will remain nonviolent for much longer.  

In an effort to discourage the protests, the military has suspended internet and some forms of communications in a temporary manner, and it is now preparing a new cyber-security law which would further undermine the right of free speech online, the access to information, and would also pose risks also to citizens’ privacy rights. 

If the law passes, the military junta will have power to access user data, block websites, and imprison critics, or anyone else who posts “misinformation or disinformation” which can disrupt the “unity, stabilization, and peace” of the country.

Civil society groups around the globe are closely monitoring the situation in Myanmar, they keep condemning the violence exercised against the demonstrators and call for Internet and other online service providers to resist internet shutdowns.

Annalisa is a Media Studies & Politics BA student at the University of Groningen. Academically, she focuses on how communication shapes discourse on human rights and she is interested in specialising in humanitarian aid and sustainable development, especially in Latin America and Southeast Asia.

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