Report says Myanmar internet a 'virtual battlefield'

A report by the International Crisis Group says Myanmar's military rulers are seeking to limit access to the internet to only “whitelisted" sites to quash widespread opposition to their seizure of power

BANGKOK -- Myanmar’s military rulers are seeking to limit access to the internet to an internal network of only “whitelisted” sites to quash opposition to their seizure of power, according to a report by the International Crisis Group. It likened the internet to a “virtual battlefield" where the military is struggling to gain an edge because it lacks technological capacity, while social media companies like Facebook have banned military officials and many government agencies. The report released Tuesday noted a narrowing of the leeway for online dissent and abuses of social media to spread hatred toward minority Muslim people in western Myanmar's Rakhine under Aung San Suu Kyi,'s elected government, which was ousted in a Feb. 1 coup. Since then, authorities have imposed nightly internet outages and sought to limit access to social media platforms. International telecoms companies such as Norway's Telenor and other businesses have protested the moves, which they say are crippling business activity and have undone years of progress toward integrating Myanmar into the world economy.