The Myanmar military's shutdown of Facebook access following the ouster of the democratically elected Aung San Suu Kyi caps years of tension between the social media company and the most powerful institution in a nation where Facebook is used by half the population.
The junta on Wednesday banned Facebook Inc. until at least Sunday after the regime's opponents began using it to organize. A new civil disobedience page had gained nearly 200,000 followers and the support of Burmese celebrities in the days after the coup, while a related hashtag was used millions of times.
"The Tatmadaw sees Facebook as their internet nemesis because it’s the dominant communication channel in the country, and has been hostile to the military," said Phil Robertson, Asia deputy director of Human Rights Watch, referring to the country's army.