Post coup, Myanmar military blocks access to Wikipedia in all languages, disrupts Internet

Amid the ongoing Military coup, Myanmar on Friday blocked access to Wikipedia in all languages, reported news agency ANI, citing NetBlocks, which is a traffic monitoring service. Taking to Twitter, NetBlocks on Friday said that it has been confirmed that Myanmar has blocked all access to Wikipedia as a part of a widening post-coup internet censorship regime imposed by the military junta. The traffic monitoring service further informed that the internet services in the country have been blacked out since the past 6 days.

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The blockade on the internet had adversely affected online shops. Some online shop owners said that their sales have declined by half in recent days due to disruption in internet connectivity. Not only this, but the recent shocking political events of Myanmar have also turned business away from the digital platform, reported Myanmar Times. All this comes after Myanmar's military on February 1 overthrew the government and declared a year-long state of emergency. 

Military Coup in Myanmar

On February 1, the Burmese military began detaining the democratically elected members of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party. State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and other members of the Parliament were detained by the military, who later declared an emergency for a year. After the coup, Myanmar Army's Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing took charge of the country. The coup occurred a day before Myanmar's newly elected members of Parliament were supposed to be sworn-in. 

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A military coup in Myanmar is not rare as they have taken place in the past as well. However, in 2011 a transition to democracy began with the country's first election in decades was held in 2015. Aung San Suu Kyi won the polls, but military retained 25% of the seats in the parliament as per the constitution, which they helped draft in 2011. Prior to the 2020 election, Suu Kyi had promised to amend the constitution, saying the military representation in the parliament will be substantially reduced in the coming decade. 

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Suu Kyi's party won the election by landslide capturing 396 out of 476 seats in parliament, a mandate much larger than in the 2015 polls. The election was monitored by international observers who certified it as "fair". A day before the new members of the parliament were supposed to take the oath, the military staged a coup to oust the government, fearing Suu Kyi would keep her promise and reduce the Army's representation. The military levelled allegations of election fraud and irregularities as their justification for the detainment of leaders. 

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