The seizure of power by the Myanmar military junta in February 2021 unleashed a brutal nationwide campaign of oppression, encompassing intensified physical violence and a sophisticated strategy of digital repression. According to a press release dated Sept. 9, 2025, from Justice For Myanmar (JFM), this “digital terror campaign” hinges on the collaboration between the junta and the Chinese company Geedge Networks, which is implementing a commercialized version of the “Great Firewall.” 

However, the success of this surveillance state largely depends on domestic telecommunications infrastructure and financial channels—most prominently, the mobile network operator Mytel, which is inextricably linked to the Vietnamese nation and military via Viettel. At its core, this partnership is a cold-blooded transaction where immense financial gains are traded for the active enablement of an authoritarian regime’s war crimes.