Twitter has
become the latest social media platform to be blocked in Myanmar as the
military, which has taken over the country following a coup on Monday, broadens
its crackdown on dissent.

De facto
leader Aung San Suu Kyi was ousted from power and detained in the coup as the
country returned to military dictatorship after flirting with democracy for 10
years, AFP reported.

On Wednesday,
Facebook became the first platform to be restricted in Myanmar with users
flocking to Twitter the next day to launch a hashtag campaign against the
military with thousands of mentions.

By around
10:00 pm local time on Friday, the access to the micro-blogging site was also curtailed,
with users claiming it could not be used with a VPN service as well.

Also Read | Fact Check: US vote fraud conspiracy theory shifts to Myanmar

Twitter
condemned the move on Saturday, with a spokesperson saying, “It undermines the
public conversation and the rights of people to make their voices heard”.

“We will
continue to advocate to end destructive government-led shutdowns.”

Telenor,
one of the country’s biggest telecommunication service provider, confirmed
authorities had directed Twitter and Instagram to be restricted “until further
notice”.

“Telenor
Myanmar has challenged the necessity and proportionality of the directive…
and highlighted the directive’s contradiction with international human rights
law,” the company said in a statement.

Also Read | Myanmar’s youth weigh defiance against crackdown fears after coup

The
Norway-based group added it was “gravely concerned” and emphasised
that access to communications services should be maintained at all times.

According
to a document by the ministry seen by AFP but not verified, Twitter and Instagram
were being used to “cause misunderstanding among the public”.

NetBlocks,
which monitors internet outages around the world, confirmed that other Facebook
products, like WhatsApp, were also facing disruptions.

Friday also
saw around 200 teachers and students protest at a Myanmar university, the
largest show of public dissent within the country so far. Displaying the
three-finger salute borrowed from Thailand’s democracy movements, the
protesters sang a popular revolutionary song.

“We have to
resist this dictatorship,” lecturer Win Win Maw told AFP. “If all civil
servants participate in this movement, it’s not easy to operate this government
system.”