Legal action is being prepared in Norway against telecoms company Telenor for transferring critical user data to the Myanmar military after the 2021 coup, according to a statement released by one of the groups supporting the move.
Norwegian law firm Simonsen Vogt Wiig submitted a pre-action letter to Telenor ASA on Monday, accusing the majority state-owned company of enabling human rights violations against phone users, the statement by the Netherlands-based Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO) said.
The action was taken on behalf of two Myanmar civil society organisations—Defend Myanmar Democracy and the Myanmar Internet Project—as well as Tha Zin Nyunt Aung, wife of Phyo Zayar Thaw, the Myanmar lawmaker executed by the military in July 2022.
Until 2022, Telenor ASA owned Telenor Myanmar, a subsidiary of Telenor South East Asia Investment. The company sold its Myanmar operations after the coup due to concerns about the country’s deteriorating political situation.
However, before it exited, Telenor allegedly transferred critical users’ data to the military—“data that was used to track, detain, torture, and kill activists and other civilians,” the statement said.
At the time, Telenor had approximately 18 million users in Myanmar. The company is accused of sharing their data—including names, addresses, national ID numbers, call logs, and last known locations—with the military knowing that it could endanger customers.
Among those whose data was compromised was Phyo Zayar Thaw, the former hip-hop artist who went on to become an MP during Myanmar’s brief era of relative political openness.
“I’m terribly disturbed and shocked by the fact that Telenor gave away my husband’s teledata to the junta just a few weeks before he was arrested and executed. That’s why I am bringing this lawsuit,” his wife, Tha Zin Nyunt Aung, said in the statement.
Thit Nyan, a digital rights researcher with the Myanmar Internet Project, which is also involved in the legal action, told Myanmar Now that the group found that Telenor Myanmar had committed numerous violations.
“In the first place, Telenor failed to safeguard the public’s personal data and gave it to the military junta. They also failed to protect digital rights that should have been protected, and failed to follow good and ethical business practices regarding human rights, responsibility and accountability when transferring the business,” he said.
Telenor is also facing charges that could result in imprisonment and fines following complaints filed with Norwegian police in late 2024 by Justice For Myanmar and ICJ Norway, which accuse the company of violating Norwegian sanctions from 2018 to 2022.
The complaints are based on the company’s role in constructing, installing, and maintaining sanctioned surveillance equipment in Myanmar that subsequently came under junta control, and by transferring this equipment to the M1 Group, which purchased Telenor Myanmar in March 2022 in a joint venture with Myanmar’s military-linked Shwe Byain Phyu Group.
Shwe Byain Phyu, which is owned by Thein Win Zaw, a businessman with extensive business ties to Myanmar’s military, now owns 80 percent of ATOM Myanmar, as Telenor Myanmar was renamed after the purchase. This is up from its initial 49 percent stake, according to Justice For Myanmar.
Myanmar civil society organisations filed complaints against Telenor with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, alleging irresponsible exit.
Since the coup, the regime has arrested a total of 29,780 people for opposing its rule, of whom 22,489 remain in detention, according to the latest data compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
