This story was produced in partnership with Coda Story.
One month after the Myanmar army seized power in a bloodless coup and declared a year-long state of emergency, daily protests are still being shaken by cities and towns across the country. An underground movement of pro-democracy activists has unleashed, in addition to their anger at the streets, a series of new digital tools for the military and police.
Myanmar’s powerful army has long maintained a strict grip on the country’s finances by investing in a number of lucrative sectors, including mining, tobacco, clothing manufacturing and banking.
The February 1 coup, which ousted the elected government of leader Aung San Suu Kyi, has highlighted ties with a number of businesses. International and local companies with ties to the security forces have come under increasing pressure from activists who say the businesses are complicit in war crimes committed by the military.
A recent Amnesty International investigation found that shareholders in a mysterious business conglomerate called Myanma Economic Holdings Limited – linked to international companies such as Japanese liquor giant Kirin Holdings and INNO Group, a South Korean real estate developer – were paying up to $ 18 received. billion over 20 years.
Last week, Kirin Holdings announced that it would abandon its partnership with a brewery partly owned by military generals. In a statement, the company said it was “deeply concerned” about the recent actions of the military and that it “will take urgent steps to implement this termination.”
The focus on military-affiliated businesses has spurred the release of new mobile applications from activists in Myanmar to weaken the revenue of the now ruling junta. Last week, Yangon-based company Genxyz launched an app titled Way Way Nay (Stay Away). It contains a list of 250 companies, including financial institutions, retail businesses, construction companies, media outlets and health and beauty manufacturers with links to the military.
Way Way Nay, which is available in both Google Play and Apple’s App Store, has been downloaded 70,000 times since its launch.
In an interview, the app’s operations manager, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he wanted to add another 450 businesses to the list. “In Myanmar, we wanted to show ordinary people how the army is connected to all aspects of daily life. We thought an app would be a great way to remind people what to boycott when buying products or services. “
The military’s efforts to suppress Myanmar’s biggest pro-democracy protests in more than a decade have led to increasingly repressive repression over the past month. According to human rights groups, more than 50 people have been killed and nearly 1,700 detained since the army took over the country.
At least 38 people were killed on Wednesday when security forces opened fire on protesters in several cities and towns across the country. Video footage apparently taken by residents of Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, shows security officers shooting one man at a lightning distance. In a separate incident, CCTV footage published by Radio Free Asia showed police assaulting and detaining three ambulance workers.
The seriousness of the official response to the protests indicates the hardening of the junta’s attitude towards daily protests that have paralyzed the economy and large parts of the country. On Thursday, Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, called on the security forces of Myanmar to stop their “brutal fight against peaceful protesters” and called on the military to detain hundreds of people illegally detained since February 1. , to release.
Launched on Android on March 3, Blacklist Myanmar is a guide for buyers looking to avoid businesses whose sales benefit Myanmar. Blacklist Myanmar also allows users to submit new proposals for businesses to boycott via an in-app email feature.
The creator of Blacklist Myanmar, who asked to go by the pseudonym Red Warrior, explained that the app was designed to restrict the army’s access to various revenue streams. “In the long run, the reason they have all the power and all the influence is due to these businesses and brands that they promote,” he said.
‘If people do not support these brands or services, our money is not going to go into the military regime. We can slowly reduce their monopolizing influence on the country. ”
Myanmar’s digital activists have also created programs to warn ordinary citizens and protesters about the increasing presence of police and troops on the streets. Myanmar Live Map, launched on Android on February 11, captures real-time data from users to highlight areas with a high concentration of security personnel. The app, which already has 40,000 users, also reveals the locations of water cannons, roadblocks and ambulances. All data is reviewed by moderators before uploading.
One of the makers of Myanmar Live Map told me that the designers of the app used their clues from a similar digital street map that protesters used during pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong in 2019. He added that members of his team consulted an anonymous author 70- page called The HK19 Manual, widely shared by protesters in Hong Kong and recently translated from English to Burmese.
Over the past month, digital activists in Myanmar have had to overcome a series of internet and mobile network outages. The British organization Netblocks confirmed on Thursday evening that national internet connection it dropped for the 19th consecutive night up to 13 percent of the levels before the coup.
Pro-democracy organizers in Southeast Asia say Myanmar’s Internet blockades are similar to those used by authoritarian governments elsewhere. Sunny Chou, a former Hong Kong protester and founder of the human rights group Umbrella Union, who sought asylum in the UK earlier this year, said the disruption of internet and data services in Myanmar was a strategy widely used by the authorities in Hong Kong is used. . “During the height of the movement in Hong Kong, our apps were disabled several times,” he said. “Telegram was also attacked several times so that the protesters could not communicate properly and organize their response.”
However, as Myanmar’s pro-democracy demonstrations have just come together, the country’s digital uprising has also aroused interest among online and offline activists in the region. In Thailand, Cambodia and Hong Kong – places that have been protested by pro-democracy for the past few years – an informal but vigilant alliance of like-minded fighters has used the internet to highlight the ongoing violence in Myanmar as it sheds light on their own oppressive regimes.
Sina Wittayawiroj is a visual designer and activist in Bangkok who first became interested in his country’s democracy movement in January 2019 when protesters took to the streets after the country’s ruling military junta indicated that the long – delayed election for the fifth would be postponed. time in five years.
Activists like Wittayawiroj gathered on social media and spread satirically memes and advice highlight the violence in Myanmar under the hashtag #MilkTeaAlliance, named after a sweet drink that is popular throughout the region. Many people who follow the hashtag have a general 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 anti-democratic and joining Beijing .
Wittayawiroj, who works for a video production and streaming platform, said he learned from a Burmese collaborator about the current crisis in Myanmar. He has regularly posted illustrations with the #MilkTeaAlliance brand since Myanmar’s coup on February 1st. ‘I talk to them a lot and try to understand the situation that people are facing. I understand there was election, but the military took control. I felt I needed to draw something to help them. ”
Regional experts say the #MilkTeaAlliance is gaining energy through local pro-democracy movements. “When the very popular pro-democracy movements were in Hong Kong in 2014 and 2019, the world watched,” said Debby Chan, a researcher in Hong Kong who studies the relationship between Sino and Myanmar. “The activists in Thailand and Myanmar also paid close attention to what was happening in Hong Kong at the time.”
“When some of the Hong Kongers testify of Thai and Myanmar activists in their struggle, we see ourselves in their movements,” she added.
This story was produced in partnership with Coda Story.