Almost Two Thousand People Were Arrested By The SAC For Writing Post On Social Media

Pajau Media

17th September, 2024

It is reported that the posts criticizing against the SAC and supporting public movements and anti-coup forces are spreading widely on social media after the coup in Myanmar.

The aforementioned writings, talk and communication were hunted down and arrested by the SAC forces under various law sections. According to the statement of Data for Myanmar, there were 1,691 people who were arbitrarily arrested by the SAC from 2022 to 31st July 2024.

The number of arrests increased significantly in 2022 and 2023, and in 2024, the number of arrests has decreased. In addition, there were 874 people in 2022, 615 in 2023 and 202 people were arrested until the end of July 2024.

Among those arrestees, according to gender, there were 613 women arrested and the percentage of women arrestees was up to 36% and there were 1,078 male arrestees.

Moreover, the arrests were made in 220 townships from February 2022 to the end of July 2024. There were a total of 806 arrestees and most of those arrestees were online users from Yangon and Mandalay regions.

It is also known that most of the arrestees were arrested because of the post which they wrote and shared on Facebook. There are also people who have been arrested for posting and sharing on other online platforms such as TikTok, Telegram and Viber. According to Data for Myanmar, an average of 54 online users are arrested every month.

 Since the military coup, the SAC has made various attempts to control social media and online platforms that are important for public movements such as blockage of the internet, internet websites and online platforms.

The SAC announced on January 25, 2022, that the people who are spreading propaganda, threatening and inciting by the social networks will be prosecuted according to Article (52) of the Anti-Terrorism Law, Section 124-A and Section (505-A) of the Penal Code, Section (33) of the Electronic Communication Act and existing laws. Furthermore, the SAC has banned people from playing PDF games and speaking hate speech, and the arrests and prosecutions have been carried out since February 2022.