Directives from Myanmar authorities 1 February 2021-25 March 2022
Maintaining open communication lines for the people of Myanmar was important for Telenor, both before and after the military takeover and ensuing state of emergency in Myanmar. Since 1 February 2021, Telenor Myanmar received numerous directives from authorities. To the extent possible, Telenor followed established global processes for handling authority directives, where each directive is assessed for legal basis, human rights impact, necessity and proportionality, and the ability to be transparent.
As a licensed entity operating under Myanmar law, while also being subject to martial law at critical locations, Telenor Myanmar had to balance a difficult situation. The safety and security of employees in Myanmar remained the company’s primary priority during this period. From 14 February 2021 it was made clear to Telenor that further disclosures of authority directives could have serious people security consequences. Based on a holistic evaluation balancing our principle of transparency with the safety of employees in Myanmar, the practice of transparency was stopped. The established assessment processes of authority directives continued regardless up until the ownership change on 25 March 2022.
Telenor continues to strive for transparency in its handling of authority directives across all operations. For disclosures related to all business units, including Myanmar, please refer to our annual Authority Request Disclosure reports.
Date | Directive/activity | Status |
14.02.2021 | Directive to temporarily (but open ended) block IP addresses and URLs | Active |
13.02.2021 | Directive to temporarily (but open ended) block IP addresses | Active |
12.02.2021 | Directive on temporary (but open ended) targeted blocking of access to service | Active |
12.02.2021 | Directive to temporarily (but open ended) block IP addresses | Active |
11.02.2021 | Directive to temporarily (but open ended) block IP addresses and URLs | Active |
10.02.2021 | Directive to temporarily (but open ended) block IP addresses | Active |
09.02.2021 | Directive to temporarily (but open ended) block IP addresses | Active |
06.02.2021 | Restored – 07.02.2021 | |
05.02.2021 | Directive to block social media services Twitter and Instagram, until further notice (statement) | Active |
04.02.2021 | Directive to temporarily block social media service Facebook (statement) | Active |
03.02.2021 | Directive to restore 3G and 4G data network in eight townships in Rakhine/Chin state (statement) | Restored – 03.02.2021 |
01.02.2021 | Forced nationwide network shutdown (statement issued on situation in Myanmar) | Restored – 01.02.2021 |
