The Military spokesman, General Zaw Min Tun said that the junta is going to restrict Facebook advertising in Myanmar, at a press conference in Naypyitaw on 17 August.
He did not specify how the restrictions would be implemented.
Facebook banned all the Tatmadaw (Myanmar military) and military-controlled state and media entities from Facebook in February 2021 for "exceptionally severe human rights abuses and the clear risk of future military-initiated violence", and "ongoing violations by the military and military-linked accounts" that practiced "coordinated inauthentic behaviour" which violated Facebook's violence, incitement and coordinating harm policies.
Facebook even mentioned General Zaw Min Tun in one of its statements saying that it would "reduce distribution of all content on Facebook Pages and profiles run by the Myanmar Military" adding that "among other military-run accounts, these measures apply to the Tatmadaw Information Team’s Facebook Page and to Tatmadaw spokesperson Brigadier-General Zaw Min Tun’s Facebook account."
Despite these well-publicised statements that broke down exactly why Facebook banned the junta General Zaw Min Tun said: "What are Facebook's standards? Why does the Facebook team always delete our posts?"
The ill-informed general also complained that Facebook deleted the Junta's postings on nationality, races and religion.
Since the military coup on 1 February 2021 the junta has attempted to restrict access in Myanmar to Facebook and other social media sites such as Instagram and Twitter. But, it has only had limited success because many people get around the restrictions by using VPNs to access the sites.
Since the coup, the junta has been arresting people for criticising them on Facebook and it continues to do so.
The internet has been cut off far more frequently in Myanmar following the coup, especially in areas where there is fighting and conflicts. The taxes on SIM cards for phones, the main way people access the internet in Myanmar, have risen since the coup as has the cost of mobile data.
