YouTube blocks channels of new Myanmar military government

YouTube has banned several channels belonging to the Myanmar military from its platform. The military staged a coup d’état on February 1 and has been fighting civilian protests with violence ever since. The internet is also cut off every night.

YouTube tells Reuters that it has blocked “a number of channels” that all belong to Myanmar’s defense apparatus. In any case, it concerns Myanma Radio and Television, Myawaddy Media, MWD Variety and MWD Myanmar. The channels are said to be “violating YouTube guidelines and applicable law.” By December, YouTube had also removed 34 channels that had attempted to influence the country’s November elections.

YouTube is not alone in taking action against the coup plotters. Facebook removed the Tatmadaw True News Information Team Page from its platform on February 21. That is the official Facebook news page of the Myanmar army. It did so because of “repeated violations of Facebook’s community standards that prohibit incitement to violence and coordination of harm.” In response, all of Facebook has been blocked in the country, which also hinders the coordination of protests.

In addition to a block on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Wikipedia have also been blocked in the country. In addition, every night the internet connectivity in the country drops to about 15 percent of what is usual for the country. That has been happening for almost three weeks now. Meanwhile, the new government is also fighting the protests on the streets. Last Wednesday, the United Nations reported that 38 people had been killed in demonstrations in one day.