The government of Myanmar has resumed Internet access for citizens, but a mood of caution seems to prevail.
The recent demonstrations in Myanmar were shown to the world largely by mobile phone video footage and blogs and video posted online by those within the country. As thousands marched againstthe control of the military junta, the rest of the world watched. At least, they watched until the country’s government cut off Internet access. Against a backdrop of arrests of protestleaders, that online access was reinstated on Saturday. “The Internet connection was restored on Saturday afternoon, but we still haven’t decided whether or not to reopen our internetcafe yet," a Yangon Internet cafe owner told Reuters. In a country filled with intimidation, where the government arrested monks who led the protests as well as political dissenters,caution seems to be the prevailing mood. The junta had begun severely restricting Internet and mobile phone access on September 28 to try and stop the country’s citizen reporters, whooften embedded video on Facebook pages or in electronic greeting cards. The government closed down the country’s two biggest ISPs, but wasn’tquite ass successful in clamping down on mobile phones. But the flow of information became very limited. In spite of very vocal international condemnation, the Myanmar junta has refused togrant any concessions to the protestors.
