Myanmar regime using Chinese technology to boost its digital surveillance efforts: report

Myanmar’s military junta is using Chinese technology and technical support to bolster its scrutiny of online activity in the country, according to a new report by activist group Justice for Myanmar (JFM). The report, released on Wednesday, alleges that the regime and Geedge Networks, a Chinese IT company with an office in Beijing, have partnered up to increase surveillance of the internet and tighten the junta’s control over what netizens can say and see. The regime is using “Chinese equipment, technology and support in its efforts to ramp up internet censorship and surveillance, putting lives at risk and further impeding the Myanmar people’s access to information and free expression,” the report said. Citing leaked documents, JFM reveals that the junta has deployed two systems in its ongoing cyberwar—the Tiangou Secure Gateway for internet surveillance and censorship, and Cyber Narrator, a network intelligence platform designed to monitor and analyse internet traffic and respond to threats. Assisting in the effort to bring this technology to Myanmar is the Mascots Group, a group of five companies led by Win Kyaw, the director of Mandalay-based Mascots Technologies Company Ltd. Identified in the report as a “private Myanmar military broker,” the group has been instrumental in bringing Chinese technical support to the regime’s Information Technology and Cyber Security Department (ITCSD), which operates under its Ministry of Transport and Communications. The ITCSD has also used the services of the China National Electronics Import and Export Corporation (CEIEC) for tracking the location of online activity. The Chinese state-owned company, which is also a key supplier of air defence radar systems for the Myanmar military, is sanctioned by the United States government. “Justice For Myanmar calls on governments to urgently impose sanctions against Geedge Networks, CEIEC and Mascots Group, its directors and related companies,” said JFM in its report, singling out Singapore and Thailand as two countries that have allowed the Mascots Group to continue its operations in their territory. The report comes as internet users in Myanmar say they have been facing growing difficulty using virtual private networks, or VPNs, to access social media platforms and websites banned by the regime. Since the end of May, many users have reported that VPN software that has worked well in the past no longer appears to be effective. As a result, many have stopped using social media—a key source of information about anti-regime activities—for fear of detection by the junta. JFM concludes its report by calling on governments to “change course and take decisive steps to support the Myanmar people’s courageous struggle for federal democracy by blocking companies and individuals in their territory from providing the illegal junta with arms, equipment, technology, technical support and jet fuel.”

Myanmar regime using Chinese technology to boost its digital surveillance efforts: report

The report comes as Myanmar internet users say they are facing growing difficulty using VPNs to access social media and banned websites

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