Myanmar draft cybersecurity law adds to protests over coup

BANGKOK — A draft cybersecurity law due to be implemented in Myanmar has raised protests that it will be used to quash dissent rather than protect privacy.

Human rights advocates issued statements Friday urging the country’s military leaders to drop the plan and end internet disruptions that have intensified since a Feb. 1 coup.

The draft law shows the military’s intent to “permanently undermine internet freedom in the country,” said Matthew Bugher, head of the Asia program for the group Article 19, which issued a statement condemning the plan along with the Open Net Association and the International Commission of Jurists.

Internet service providers and others were given until Monday, Feb. 15, to respond to the proposed law.

“It is telling that controlling cyberspace is one of the top priorities of the Myanmar military, which seized power through an illegitimate coup d’etat…