Mizzima-Sept 10
A Chinese technology company, Geedge Networks, is enabling Myanmar’s military junta to track the online activities and real-time locations of 33.4 million internet users, according to a report released on 09 September by Justice for Myanmar. The statement is as follows: A new report published today exposes the significant collaboration between the illegal Myanmar military junta and Geedge Networks in implementing a commercial version of China’s “Great Firewall”, giving the junta unprecedented capabilities to track down, arrest, torture and kill civilians. Geedge Networks is a Chinese company with links to the Chinese government. Justice For Myanmar’s report, Silk Road of Surveillance: The role of China’s Geedge Networks and Myanmar telecommunications operators in the junta’s digital terror campaign also exposes 13 telecommunications companies in Myanmar that are integral to the continued functioning of Geedge’s sophisticated surveillance and censorship technology on behalf of the junta. Geedge’s transfer of a commercialized version of China’s “Great Firewall” gives the junta unrestricted access to the online activities of 33.4 million internet users in Myanmar. Notably, Geedge systems enable the tracking of network traffic at the individual level and can identify the geographic location of mobile subscribers in real time by linking their activity to specific cell identifiers. By providing hardware, software, training and support to the illegal military junta, Geedge may be aiding and abetting in the commission of crimes against humanity, including the acts of torture and killing, carried out by the junta. The report is based on a leaked dataset that casts light on Geedge’s business around the world, including Myanmar, and has been reviewed by a coalition of media and non-governmental/civil society organizations through the Great Firewall Export project, made up of Amnesty International, InterSecLab, the Globe and Mail, Paper Trail Media, Tor Project, DER STANDARD, and Follow The Money. Read more at:
