Authorities in Myanmar have ordered Twitter and Instagram to be blocked after Facebook
Telenor, one of the country's leading Internet service providers, confirms that it has been asked to prevent customers from accessing the two sites "until further notice."
The leaders of the coup ordered the blockade of Facebook on Thursday with the aim of 'stability'.
Protests are growing in Myanmar over the detention of democratically elected leaders.
University students and teachers gathered in Yangon on Friday to protest and chant slogans in favor of Aung San Suu Kyi.
They were wearing red ribbons. Red is the color of the country's leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party.
Suu Kyi and other leaders were detained during a military coup in the country on Monday.
Earlier, the army detained a senior leader of the National League for Democracy or NLD party.
Ms. Suu Kyi has not been seen in public since Monday.
His lawyer says he has been under house arrest since Monday. The lawyer says he wants the unconditional release of Suu Kyi and the country's president.
But he can't meet them. Myanmar, also known as Burma, has remained calm since a military coup on Monday.
Hundreds of students and teachers gathered on the premises of Dagan University on Friday afternoon.
They were holding a three-finger salute - a salute chanted by protesters in the area in protest of the dictatorship.
They chanted slogans in favor of Ms. Suu Kyi and flew red flags.
"We cannot allow our generation to suffer because of this kind of military dictatorship," Min Sithu, a student, told AFP.
Why is social media blocked?
 |
| Chief of Army Staff General Min Aung Laing |
Many people have watched the February 1 coup live on Facebook. Facebook is the primary source of information and news in Myanmar.
But three days later, Internet service providers were instructed to block social media.
Following the ban, thousands of users took to Twitter and Instagram. They launched hashtags against the coup.
By ten o'clock on Friday night, no one was able to enter the two platforms.
The leaders of the coup had no official statement about this.
But news agency AFP says they have seen a ministry document saying the social media was being used "to spread misunderstandings among people". This document, however, could not be independently verified.
Telenor, a Norwegian-based telecom company, is deeply concerned about the decision.
A Twitter spokesman told Reuters the decision violated people's right to speak.
Facebook has called on Myanmar authorities to "restore the connection of people so that they can communicate with family and friends and learn important information". Instagram is a subsidiary of Facebook.
Protests through social media for that reason
The first blow of the military coup was miserable for the people.
But people now understand what happened and they are now trying to find an alternative.
More and more people are joining the protests against the military authorities as they try to take control.
That BBC correspondent says people here know very well that the army can carry out arrests.
So far no one was able to send in the perfect solution, which is not strange.
But they are using social media so that people can know about them.
The teacher who protested on the university campus on Friday says he did it for the next generation.
"I have a 16-month-old child. I grew up in a military and economic embargo. I pray that my son grows up in a completely different Burma. Now I'm not sure what the future will hold," he said.
The protests took place in different parts of Myanmar. Which is a large-scale street protest after an army coup.
Residents of some cities, such as Yaguner, have joined in the night-time protests at home, playing dishes and singing revolutionary songs.
There has also been a flashmob during the day.
In a telephone conversation with the BBC Burmese, Win Thien, a 69-year-old senior NLD party supporter, said he had been taken to the capital, Nay Pyi Taw. He has been arrested in a sedition case. Whose peace is life imprisonment? Although he does not know exactly what allegations against him.
"They don't like what I'm saying, they're scared of what I'm saying," he said.
Myanmar at a glance
Myanmar is a country in Southeast Asia with a population of 54 million. Myanmar shares borders with Bangladesh, India, China, Thailand, and Laos.
The country was ruled by a military government from 1982 to 2011. Due to which the country is facing international sanctions.
Aung San Suu Kyi has been campaigning for democratic reform for years. Although it gradually began to relinquish power in 2010, the military still has considerable control.
Aung San Suu Kyi came to power in 2015 through free elections. But two years later, millions of Rohingya fled to Bangladesh after the military's brutal crackdown on Rohingya Muslims, sparking a rift between Suu Kyi and the international community.
However, Suu Kyi remained popular in her home country, and her party won a landslide victory in the November 2020 elections. But then the military took control of the country again.
