Mizzima News

October 12, 2007
The Ministry of Defence and Communications will take over the Myanmar Post and Telecommunication near future, according to sources.

Tech savvy people splashed photographs of protests by monks and of the brutal crackdown around the world. Digital pictures and videos were uploaded in blogs embarrassing the Burmese military junta no end. This led the regime's plan to substitute army men in civilian posts at the MPT, sources said.

While the peaceful demonstrators were being beaten up and shot on streets of the biggest city Rangoon, on September 28, the junta shut down the internet to check the information flow.

However, believing that the mass protests are over and have been effectively controlled since Oct 4, the junta restored internet connection but it continues to be unstable.

The junta is scanning the internet and is on the lookout for anyone trying to send out information to the outside world.

Some cafes are warning users against surfing political sites because the MPT and Myanmar Teleport (formerly known as Bagan) are monitoring the net, an internet user said.

The news of protests had attracted employees of private business houses and some companies restricted the time of use of the internet for their work, according to an IT programmer.