Regime Launches Committee to Monitor Myanmar’s Internet 24/7

Myanmar’s regime has formed a new committee to monitor online activity around the clock for criticism of its rule, appointing Deputy Home Affairs Minister Major General Min Thu to lead the body.

The regime’s Information Ministry said the committee was established on April 28, just weeks after coup leader Min Aung Hlaing installed himself as president.

Officials said the group will operate 24/7 with technical experts to monitor the internet for “fake news, misinformation, inappropriate content and political

attacks.”

Analysts note that the pseudo‑civilian regime is entrenching the post‑coup legacy of draconian digital surveillance, institutionalizing practices that saw internet users prosecuted not only for posts critical of the military rule but even for shares and likes.

Committee chair Min Thu, a graduate of the Defense Services Academy’s 37th intake, previously headed the IT department at Military Intelligence—officially known as the Office of the Chief of Military Security Affairs—before the 2021 coup. He later became deputy military intelligence chief, overseeing the junta’s notorious interrogation chambers.

On June 18, Min Thu told the junta’s rubber-stamp Lower House that the regime had taken action against 21,369 online users between 2024 and May 2026 for “posting political attacks, inappropriate content, fake news and misinformation.” Nearly 20,000 were prosecuted under counter-terrorism charges— accused of funding or supporting resistance groups. Others faced sedition charges under the Penal Code.

The new committee includes senior officials from the ministries of Communications, Legal Affairs, and Information, as well as the Central Bank and Military Intelligence. Telecom operators and banks are legally required to cooperate with the regime in implementing its directives.

Rights observers say the initiative is aimed at crushing free expression and tightening digital surveillance. “This is an attempt to further suppress freedom of speech, digital rights, and media freedoms,” said digital rights researcher Ko Nyan Thit.

The crackdown has already produced harsh sentences. On June 25, a food vendor who posted satirical criticism of Min Aung Hlaing online had his prison term extended to 13 years, after initially receiving three years for writing on Facebook, “The US has arrested Venezuela’s president, but has not moved against the man who should have long been arrested.”

Award-winning author Tin Nyunt was also arrested and sentenced to three years in prison for books that satirized former military leaders. The books’ publisher and online seller were detained as well. Popular hip-hop singer Byuhar is serving 20 years for livestreaming criticism of power outages under Min Aung Hlaing’s rule.

The regime has also detained nearly 100 people for criticizing or supporting criticism of its December-January election, widely denounced as a sham to entrench military rule.

Meanwhile, analysts note the junta is deepening cooperation with China on surveillance technology, further tightening its grip on digital freedoms.