The Danish media Danwatch has in collaboration with the independent, Myanmar media Frontier Myanmar put the spotlight on Telenor’s operations in the country after the brutal coup in February.
Telenor has not wanted to comment for fear of employee safety, according to Danwatch.
– We do not have the opportunity to comment on the directives to the authorities, says information manager Tormod Sandstø in Telenor to NTB.
Surveillance
Danwatch refers to a number of anonymous people in the police and telecommunications industry as sources for information about sharing user data.
Telenor is said to have been forced to hand over information such as addresses and call history to the military regime. But they have so far not given in to pressure to give the authorities direct access to monitoring users.
The state-owned companies MPT and Mytel, which are controlled by the military, have also given the authorities access to eavesdrop on the content of talks. Using software, the police in Myanmar can be alerted when words like “protest” and “revolution” are said.
According to Reuters had Telenor and the Qatar company Ooredoo until Monday 5 July to implement technology that allows the regime to monitor telephone calls, messages, internet use and the like in real time.
Reuters has repeatedly tried to get a comment from the authorities, but has not succeeded.
Great unrest
In February this year, the military in Myanmar took power from the elected representatives in a coup. Telenor and other telecom companies were forced to close the network and block access to social media, which has been an important tool for the protest movement.
Since then, 881 people have been killed and more than 5,000 political prisoners taken, according to the organization AAPP, who work for the rights of political prisoners.
There is still great unrest and many demonstrations in the country. As recently as Sunday, 25 people were reported killed in fighting with government forces in the Sagaing region in central the country.
Considering selling out
Telenor’s establishment in the country in 2014 was a billion investment, and it was a stated goal to contribute to the country’s continued economic and democratic development.
In May, Telenor made an accounting loss of NOK 6.5 billion after writing down the entire value of the Myanmar business.
July 2 declared Telenor that they are considering the possibility of selling out of Myanmar. The reason is a persistently deteriorating human rights situation and increasingly poorer prospects for the country’s economy and business climate.
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