Summary
A lawsuit has been filed against Norway’s telecom company Telenor, accusing it of handing over data on more than 1,200 Myanmar activists to the country’s military regime. This data helped the military track, arrest, and harm people who opposed the 2021 coup in Myanmar.
Key Facts
- Telenor entered Myanmar in 2013 to provide internet access during the country’s move toward democracy.
- After the 2021 military coup, Telenor gave the Myanmar military personal data on activists, including locations and addresses.
- Aung Thu, an anti-coup activist, was arrested after the military obtained his data from Telenor.
- Telenor complied with 96% of 153 data requests from the military, according to its own reports.
- Over 1,200 Telenor customers are part of a class-action lawsuit seeking at least €11 million in compensation.
- The lawsuit says Telenor did not warn users or protect them from the military’s use of their data.
- Some of the people whose data was handed over have been arrested, tortured, or executed.
- The Norwegian government, as Telenor’s main owner, faces a parliamentary inquiry into the company’s role in this case.
