A coalition of 255 civil society organizations (CSOs) has urged SpaceX to target telecom scam syndicates—locally known as Zhapian gangs—rather than imposing a blanket shutdown of Starlink services in Myanmar, warning that a complete cutoff would sever a critical lifeline for civilians in areas under junta-imposed internet blackouts.
In an open letter sent to SpaceX on July 17, the groups—including the Myanmar Internet Project (MIP)—emphasized that residents in conflict zones have gone to extraordinary lengths to acquire Starlink equipment despite severe financial hardship.
For many, satellite internet has become their sole connection to the outside world.
The coalition highlighted Starlink’s critical role in sustaining humanitarian relief operations, emergency medical services, airstrike early-warning networks, resistance-run schools, and independent media reporting on human rights abuses.
While SpaceX has already restricted access around known scam hubs along Myanmar’s borders, the CSOs noted that recent blanket restrictions have spilled over into unrelated conflict zones, including Sagaing and Magway regions as well as Arakan (Rakhine) State.
They argued that such sweeping cutoffs fail to deter criminal networks while inflicting severe harm on innocent civilians already suffering under the military regime’s communication blackouts.
The impact is particularly acute in Chin State and in areas like Kale Township in Sagaing Region, where the junta has completely severed mobile phone networks and conventional internet access. Local communities in these regions rely heavily on Starlink to maintain contact with overseas relatives and receive financial remittances essential for basic survival.
“Right now in Kale, all communications have been cut—we can’t even make standard phone calls,” a local Chin resident told Khonumthung News. “With widespread job losses and conflict forcing people from their homes, many families survive solely on remittances from abroad. If Starlink is shut down, we honestly don’t know how we will survive.”