A Burmese woman who was abroad on holiday during the coup believed that she was safe from the dangers of speaking out against the regime and its supporters. Only to tragically find out that her once private intimate videos with her former boyfriend were leaked to the public online by supporters of the military back in her home country.

The military regime, under the command of General Min Aung Hliang, retains fervent supporters who took it upon themselves to attack dissenters to the military rule through malicious means, often resorting to online abuse and attacks. This news article seeks to shed light on the online portion of the civil war, mainly how women are being attacked and targeted by junta supporters. Some of these online tactics include ‘doxxing’, a type of malicious online activity that exposes victims’ private information, including their own social media or even their real-life address in an attempt to threaten or silence them. While targeted men are often associated with ties to terrorist groups, when women are targeted, they are often targeted with sexist insults and are sometimes exposed with private videos and photos of them in an attempt to harm them mentally and bring shame to their families. In this case, the doxxing activities occurred in a social media platform that allows file sharing within a group of as many as 10,000 members called Telegram, often regarded as a platform for free speech and lack of government monitoring.

This goes to show how social media isn’t a foolproof platform for pro-democracy protestors to speak out against a military regime. Although women are more able to speak out about their personal beliefs and grievances, the social media they use can put them in a more vulnerable situation.

News Article Link: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/07/asia/myanmar-military-sexual-images-doxxing-telegram-as-equals-intl-cmd/index.html

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