There have been many reports on what is happening in Myanmar following the military coup, but more than ever we need to listen to stories from the ground, as told by the people of Myanmar. On this episode of Pretty Good Podcast, EngageMedia interviews filmmaker Stephen Minus (also known as Thet Oo Maung) on his experience documenting the protests that have swept the country, and the wider implications of the military’s human and digital rights violations against the Myanmar people.

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• Almost two weeks since the military coup and subsequent protests in Myanmar, the future of the country and its derailed democracy remain uncertain. For a more comprehensive guide on how recent events in Myanmar tie into its peoples’ human and digital rights, check out our action brief, which collates in one place the digital rights violations, what other organisations have said, and what we in civil society can do to support the Myanmar people’s rights and freedoms.
  • For additional context, you can also listen to our previous episode on Myanmar with Burmese scholar Maung Zarni, which provides a broader and more historical view of Myanmar’s history in relation to human and digital rights.
  • You can also check out our playlist, Democracy Derailed: Curated Videos on Myanmar, where we highlight ten videos on Myanmar that reflect the democratic aspirations of the Myanmar people.
• In 2018, Stephen interviewed several Burmese activists on the state of digital rights in Myanmar. Almost three years later, he says nothing has changed – and perhaps have only gotten worse. Watch his video, titled Digital Rights in Myanmar, here.
• With the intermittent internet shutdowns and similar restrictions to other communications platforms, here’s a guide from VICE on how to bypass the current “digital dictatorship” in the country.
• Myanmar has a complicated relationship with Facebook, and recent events have only made it even messier. On one hand, many people in Myanmar rely on Facebook, with some parts of the country even regarding Facebook as the internet itself. It’s because of this association that the military banned it first before other social media platforms. But, on the other hand, Facebook has also played a significant role in fueling violence, hate, and disinformation against Rohingya Muslims.
• Among those arrested by the Myanmar military last February 1 was prominent filmmaker Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi, who was previously sentenced for writing posts on Facebook that were critical of the Myanmar government. He was released in February 2020.