This story was produced in partnership with Coda Story.
One month after the Myanmar army seized power in a bloodless coup and declared a one-year state of emergency, daily protests continue to shake cities and towns across the country. Now, in addition to getting angry on the street, an underground movement of pro-democracy activists has launched a series of new digital tools on the armed forces and police.
Myanmar’s strong military has long maintained a tight tightening of the country’s finances by investing in a number of profitable sectors, including mining, tobacco, garment manufacturing and banking.
The February 1 seizure of power, which ousted the elected government of leader Aung San Suu Kyi, highlighted links to a number of businesses. International and local companies linked to the security forces have come under increasing pressure from activists who say the companies are complicit in war crimes committed by the armed forces.
A recent Amnesty International investigation found that shareholders in a secret business conglomerate called Myanma Economic Holdings Limited – which is linked to international businesses such as Japanese beverage giant Kirin Holdings and INNO Group, a South Korean real estate developer – have received payments of up to at $ 18 billion over 20 years.
Last week, Kirin Holdings announced that it would abandon its partnership with a brewery partially owned by military generals. In a statement, the company said it was “deeply concerned” by the army’s recent actions and that it would “take urgent action to implement this termination”.
The focus on army-connected companies has spurred the launch of new mobile applications from Myanmar activists seeking to weaken the junta’s current incomes. Last week, Yangon-based company Genxyz launched an app called Way Way Nay (Stay Away). It lists 250 companies, including financial institutions, retail companies, construction companies, media outlets and military-related health and beauty manufacturers.
Way Way Nay, which is available on both Google Play and the Apple App Store, has been downloaded 70,000 times since its launch.
In an interview, the application’s operational manager, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he intends to add another 450 companies to the list. “We wanted to be able to show ordinary people in Myanmar how the military is connected to all aspects of daily life. I thought an app would be a good way to remind people what to boycott when they buy products or services. ”
The army’s efforts to quell Myanmar’s largest pro-democracy protests in more than a decade have led to increasingly repressive crackdowns in the past month. According to human rights groups, more than 50 people have been killed and nearly 1,700 detained since the military took control of the country.
At least 38 people were killed on Wednesday when security forces fired on protesters in several cities and towns across the country. Videos apparently taken by residents of Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, appeared to show security officials shooting a man from a distance. In a separate incident, CCTV footage released by Radio Free Asia showed that police assaulted and detained three ambulance workers.
The severity of the official response to the protests marks the strengthening of the junta’s attitude towards the daily demonstrations that have paralyzed the economy and large areas of the country. On Thursday, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet called on security forces in Myanmar to stop “vicious repression against peaceful protesters” and urged the military to release hundreds of people believed to have been illegally detained. February 1st.
The Myanmar Blacklist, launched on March 3 on Android, is a guide for buyers who want to avoid companies whose sales benefit the armed forces in Myanmar. Myanmar’s blacklist also allows users to submit new suggestions for businesses to boycott through an in-app email feature.
The creator of the Myanmar blacklist, which called for the pseudonym Red Warrior, explained that the application was designed to limit the military’s access to various revenue streams. “In the long run, the reason they have all the power and all the influence is because of these companies and brands that they promote,” he said.
“If people do not support these brands or services, then our money will not enter the military regime. We can slowly cut off their monopolizing influence on the country. ”
Myanmar’s digital activists have also created apps to warn ordinary citizens and protesters about the growing presence of police and troops on the streets. Launched on Android on February 11, Myanmar Live Map takes real-time data from users to highlight areas with a high concentration of security personnel. The application, which already has 40,000 users, also reveals the locations of water cannons, roadblocks and ambulances. All data is checked by moderators before uploading.
One of the producers of Myanmar Live Map told me that the application’s designers took their mark from a similar digital map used by protesters during the pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong in 2019. He added that members of his team consulted an author anonymous 70- page document called the HK19 Handbook, widely distributed by protesters in Hong Kong and recently translated from English into Burmese.
In the last month, digital activists in Myanmar have had to overcome a series of internet disruptions imposed by the military and mobile network disruptions. On Thursday night, the UK-based organization Netblocks confirmed its national internet connectivity fallen for the 19th night in a row at 13 percent of pre-coup levels.
Pro-democracy organizers in Southeast Asia say Myanmar’s internet outages are similar to those carried out by authoritarian governments elsewhere. Sunny Chou, a former Hong Kong protester and founder of the human rights group Umbrella Union, which sought asylum in the UK earlier this year, said disrupting internet and data services in Myanmar was a widespread strategy used by the Hong Kong authorities. . “During the heyday of the Hong Kong movement, there were several times when our applications were disabled,” he said. “The telegram was also attacked several times, so that the protesters could not communicate correctly and organize their response.”
However, as pro-democracy demonstrations in Myanmar have grown, the country’s digital insurgency has sparked interest from online and offline activists in the region. In Thailand, Cambodia and Hong Kong – places that have all been shaken by pro-democracy protests in recent years – an informal but careful alliance of like-minded activists has used the internet to highlight ongoing violence in Myanmar, while shedding light on their own oppressive regimes.
Sina Wittayawiroj is a Bangkok-based designer and visual activist who first became interested in his country’s pro-democracy movement in January 2019, when protesters took to the streets after the country’s ruling military junta signaled that the postponed elections much will be postponed for the fifth time in five years.
Activists like Wittayawiroj gathered on social media, spreading satirically jokes and tips prominence Myanmar violence under the hashtag #MilkTeaAlliance, named after a sweet drink popular throughout the region. Many who follow the hashtag share a common fear of China’s dominance in the region – in Thailand, for example, support for Taiwan and Hong Kong has become a rallying point for ordinary citizens who believe their own government is undemocratic and too closely aligned with Beijing.
Wittayawiroj, who works for a video production and streaming platform, said he learned about the current Myanmar crisis from a Burmese co-worker. He has regularly posted illustrations with the hashtag #MilkTeaAlliance since the February 1 coup in Myanmar. “I talk to them a lot and I try to understand the situation that people face. I understand that there were elections, but the army took control. I felt I had to draw something to help them. ”
Regional experts say the #MilkTea Alliance has been boosted by pro-democracy regional movements. “When we had the very popular pro-democracy movements in Hong Kong in 2014 and 2019, the world watched,” said Debby Chan, a Hong Kong researcher studying China-Myanmar relations. “Activists in Thailand and Myanmar also paid special attention to what happened in Hong Kong at the time.”
“When some Hong Kongers witness Thai and Myanmar activists in their struggle, we see each other in their movements,” she added.
This story was produced in partnership with Coda Story.