MobileActive08

All around Burma's (Myanmar's) troubled borders mobile phones are being used to document human rights abuses report illicitly from inside the country and coordinate democracy activists around security concerns. Inside Burma, severe repression and the prohibitive cost of cell phones (starting at $1300 USD) make civil society initiatives - through mobiles or otherwise - distinctly difficult. Yet in Rhakine State in western Burma, students monks and other activists are using Bangladesh's superior cell phone network to coordinate cross-border efforts to bring democratic change to the Burmese military dictatorship.

Our research shows that initiatives are taking place around and within Burma's borders and cell phones are critical components of this cross-border struggle for more participatory government.

In this Mini-talk Mark Belinsky and Emily Jacobi of Democracy 2.0 present their investigation of mobile use and connectivity of Burmese activists living in exile around the country's borders. Compiled from three months of research on Burma's Eastern border (Thailand) and Western border (India and Bangladesh) their findings show the ways mobiles are being used by displaced Burmese for a wide-range of civil society efforts.

This talk is relevant not only to Burma but to the larger issue of how mobiles can be creatively used to by cross-border movements as part of an effective strategy against authoritarian regimes.