“Telenor faces legal action over human rights abuses in Myanmar”, 6 October 2025

Today, Defend Myanmar Democracy and Myanmar Internet Project, together with Tha Zin – whose husband Zay Yar Thaw, a hip hop artist turned lawmaker, democracy activist, and opposition leader, was arrested and executed after Telenor shared his call log – have, through Norwegian law firm Simonsen Vogt Wiig, sent a pre-action letter to Telenor ASA, a Norwegian telecommunications multinational majority-owned by the state. The letter formally notifies Telenor that the claimants intend to file a lawsuit in Norway over the company’s reported disclosure of sensitive customer data to Myanmar’s military junta, data that was used to track, detain, torture, and kill activists and other civilians.

SOMO and the Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI) are supporting this action…

Telenor Myanmar, a wholly owned subsidiary of Telenor South East Asia Investment, which in turn is controlled by Telenor ASA, operated in Myanmar between 2014 and until its sale in 2022…

Substantial evidence shows how Telenor’s systematic disclosure of sensitive mobile phone data of its customers in Myanmar enabled the military to persecute victims and suppress opposition to the coup…

The claimants argue that until its exit from Myanmar in March 2022, Telenor knowingly continued to share information, including names, addresses, national ID numbers, call logs, and last known locations, despite being aware of the risk of harming people…

In 2022, Telenor eventually approved and executed the sale of its Myanmar business despite warnings by civil society organisations and international legal action against this transfer…

The pre-action letter is the first mandatory step to initiate legal proceedings in Norway. Telenor is given two weeks to respond to the claim…