The Status of Freedom of Expression in Myanmar during February 2026

February marks the fifth anniversary of the military coup in Myanmar. While various forms of non-violent protests and activities against the coup and the military dictatorship were annually held across the nation every February since 2021, such movements have dwindled to near non-existence this year.

According to data collected by Athan, February 2026 saw only internal movements within Mawlaik Prison inside Myanmar. Regarding activities by the Myanmar diaspora, only a single “Chiang Mai Thangyat” program by youth in Thailand was observed. The total of just two public movements, both domestic and abroad, represents a significant decline compared to previous years.

Since the February 2021 coup, annual non-violent public movements have included silent strikes, online campaigns, and photo campaigns. These activities began to decrease noticeably in 2025 and have since become completely absent. In contrast, 2023 and 2024 saw vibrant prison strikes, online protests, campaigns, and guerrilla strikes. In February 2024 alone, there were 248 public strikes, 12 guerrilla strikes, 53 online campaigns, and 5 prison strikes.

However, in 2026, only one prison-based protest was successfully carried out. It is evident that political prisoners, who have been arrested and detained by the military for opposing the coup in various ways, continue to resist and defy the dictatorship from within the prison walls to this day.

Since the coup, the use of diverse methods to arrest, detain, and suppress those opposing the dictatorship, combined with the military’s upgraded technical surveillance systems, has made it extremely difficult for the public to take to the streets or organize structured online movements due to life-threatening security risks. Such multifaceted repression may be the primary reason for the decreasing of non-violent public movements. Furthermore, five years after the coup, the strategic shift toward prioritizing armed revolution over non-violent civil movements can also be analyzed as a contributing factor.