Myanmar’s brutal military regime has imposed extensive digital surveillance on dissidents since seizing power in a military coup more than four years ago.
Since the coup in February 2021, nearly 2,000 people have been arrested for criticizing the junta online and supporting opposition groups on Facebook, according to human rights organization Data for Myanmar. The coup has sparked a civil war, killing thousands and displacing millions.
Information from several sources obtained by the media Finance Uncovered and Myanmar Now and reviewed by Danwatch shows that a partly Danish-owned internet company has apparently installed sophisticated Chinese surveillance technology in one of its data centers in Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon.
Shortly before the military coup, the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ investment fund, the Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU), invested DKK 73 million in the internet provider Frontiir, which provides internet services to millions of people in Myanmar.
Well-placed sources say the system installed at Frontiir is used for online surveillance by Myanmar’s brutal military regime.
Due to the security situation for sources in Myanmar, it is not possible for Danwatch to publish further details about the information in Danwatch’s possession.
Capable of intercepting and decrypting online communication
The surveillance equipment is developed by Geedge Networks, a controversial Chinese cyber security company founded by Chinese IT engineer Fang Binxing, nicknamed the “Father of China’s Great Fire Wall” for his pivotal role in the development of China’s extensive internet censorship.
The equipment from Geedge Networks is capable of tracking people online and intercepting and decrypting communications – such as the content of emails.
It can also be used to block websites and prevent people from using virtual private networks (VPNs), which allow users to bypass censorship.
Last week, Radio IIII revealed how Frontiir plays a central role in the military regime’s internet censorship, including by blocking access to social media such as Facebook and X.
Frontiir denies surveillance
Six months after the military coup in Myanmar, in the summer of 2021, the Norwegian state-owned telecommunications company Telenor announced that it was selling its business in Myanmar due to the military junta’s demand to activate surveillance equipment.
Telenor stated that it was no longer possible to operate in the country without violating sanctions and human rights in Myanmar.
Frontiir, founded by three American citizens and led by a Burmese national with a doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), denies in a written response to Finance Uncovered, Myanmar Now and Danwatch that it has “built, planned or designed anything related to surveillance” in Myanmar.
Frontiir, which is also invested in by the Norwegian and British government development funds, has assured its investors that its “network has never been used by the Myanmar government to intercept or decrypt communications”.
And IFU has chosen to trust these assurances.
“Frontiir has informed us that it has never given any user information to public authorities and that there is no system in Frontiir’s data center that can monitor and decrypt any encrypted data,” IFU wrote in a written response to Danwatch.
“At this point in time, we have not identified any evidence indicating that Frontiir is engaged in actions that would justify a sale or divestment of our small stake and outweigh the potential negative impact of a divestment,” IFU writes.
Millions of people in Myanmar have gained access to the internet through Frontiir, which is why IFU fears that dropping the investment will worsen poverty in Myanmar.
“Frontiir is, apart from government-run platforms, the only provider of affordable internet services in Myanmar, in a country with high levels of poverty and where individuals and commercial enterprises rely on Frontiir’s services,” IFU writes, adding that they continuously monitor that their investments comply with IFU’s “ethical and professional standards”.
Leaked documents showed that the military regime has the technology
According to an investigation by the NGO Justice For Myanmar, the Chinese surveillance equipment is the same as that used by the military regime itself for surveillance and internet censorship in May 2024.
In that investigation, documents leaked to Justice for Myanmar revealed that the Myanmar military junta had obtained Geedge’s equipment and that it could be used to intercept and decrypt messages, block certain websites and prevent people from using VPNs.
Joseph Wilde-Ramsing, an expert on international corporate human rights obligations at SOMO in the Netherlands, describes IFU’s response as “weak”.
According to the OECD Guidelines for Responsible Business Conduct, rules that are legally binding on all OECD members, investors have a responsibility to use all the influence they have to prevent companies they invest in from violating human rights.
“In Myanmar, people are being killed, arrested and kidnapped, so there are high demands on how quickly companies need to act, and what transparency and resilience they need to demonstrate,” says Joseph Wilde-Ramsing.
IFU writes to Danwatch that it follows the OECD guidelines and that “IFU’s policies and practices take into account the challenges of making investments in complex environments” and that it is “always interested in engaging with experts and other stakeholders who can provide additional perspectives on investment decisions in Myanmar and enable us to improve our practices”.
Geedge has not responded to our repeated inquiries.