Digital Surveillance, Repression and Institutional Control: The Stability of Myanmar’s Authoritarian Regime

Comparative Politics
Authoritarian Regimes
Digital Surveillance
Myanmar
Military Regimes

Park, Sanghoon, Tu Hnaing Wint, and Young Hoon Song. 2023, “Digital Surveillance, Repression and Institutional Control: The Stability of Myanmar’s Authoritarian Regime.”

Authors
Affiliations

Kangwon Institute for Unification Studies, Kangwon National University

Tu Hnaing Wint

Political Science, Kangwon National University

Young Hoon Song

Political Science, Kangwon National University

Published

April 2026

Abstract

This study examines how institutional control and digital technology work together to sustain the stability of Myanmar’s authoritarian regime following the February 1, 2021 military coup. Using quantitative data with qualitative process tracing of government documents, censorship policies, and NGO reports, the paper identifies four specific mechanisms through which the Tatmadaw’s digital governance strategy reinforces authoritarian stability: the intelligence-repression nexus, the legal-digital enforcement nexus, information environment manipulation, and the dynamic of opposition adaptation. The findings show that digital technology does not inherently promote democratic transition but can strengthen authoritarian rule when embedded within coercive and institutional structures, while also documenting the resilience and adaptability of Myanmar’s pro-democracy resistance movement in the digital sphere.