Assessing Impacts on Digital Rights and Freedom among Youths under Myanmar’s Cybersecurity Law 2025: A Case Study of Youths in Mon State
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Abstract
Nowadays, digital rights and freedom have become as crucial as offline rights across the world as states start restricting these rights using cybersecurity-related laws, disproportionately affecting the digitally most active group ‘youths’. In Myanmar, the post-2021-military coup saw the SAC’s increasing restrictions on digital rights and the recent 2025 Cybersecurity Law further tightens these restrictions. Being the majority users of digital spaces, youths are most vulnerable to the law’s digital constraints on freedom of expression, speech, and information in Myanmar. This study examines the impacts and challenges experienced by youths regarding their digital rights and freedom under the cybersecurity law, through a case study of youths in Mon State. Through a qualitative research approach and a theoretical framework of digital authoritarianism, this study analyzes semi-structured interviews and performs thematic analysis to assess patterns and trends. Findings indicate that youths’ digital rights and freedom in Mon State are affected by four significant impacts such as fear of arrest, declining digital engagement, restricted access to information and opportunities, and psychological stress under the cybersecurity law. Additionally, they face four crucial challenges such as VPN criminalization, the law’s vaguely worded provisions, digital surveillance and privacy invasion, and inconsistencies in law enforcement. These findings suggest that Myanmar’s cybersecurity law is, instead of a legal protector against cybercrimes, a systematic tool of digital repression and authoritarianism, restraining youths’ digital freedom.
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