The Revolution Is Digital

When what is now known as the Saffron Revolution began in Myanmar in early 2007, the big difference between a decade back was that there was rudimentary internet access into the country while the military was playing a cat and mouse game with the democracy protests in trying to keep information corralled.

- Amantha Perera

The few internet cafes were used by activists to circumvent government restrictions. There was some clever manoeuvring, dangerous as well, like the digital video cameras that were used ‘illegally’ to record the uprising and crackdown. The footage was smuggled out of the country. Some of it was turned into the award-winning movie Burma VJ. However, what was not easy was to get through to ordinary citizens who were not tech-savvy. Personal web connectivity was years in the making. That took place in the past decade or so.