Myanmar (TIP): Myanmar’s junta blocked Facebook in the name of ensuring stability on Thursday and activists said at least three people were arrested at a street protest against the coup that ousted elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi faces charges for illegally importing communications equipment after the army takeover on Monday — that has drawn Western condemnation and calls on the junta to respect her party’s landslide victory in November elections. Opposition to the junta has emerged very strongly on Facebook, which is the country’s main internet platform and underpins communications for business and government. Facebook’s WhatsApp messaging was also blocked. emonstrators in the second city of Mandalay used it to livestream the first such street protest since the coup in a country with a bloody history of crackdowns on demonstrations.

“People’s protest against military coup,” read one of the banners.

The group of around 20 people chanted: “Our arrested leaders, release now, release now.”

Three people were arrested after the protest, three separate student groups said. Reuters was unable to contact police for comment.

The social network has also been used to share images of a campaign of disobedience by staff at government hospitals across the country, with doctors stopping work or wearing ribbons in the red colour of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy.

Pictures shared on Wednesday showed workers at the agriculture ministry joining the campaign too.

“UNFAIR COUP” : Other signs of anger have also emerged. For two nights, people in Yangon and other cities have banged on pots and pans and honked car horns, with images circulating widely on Facebook.

“Lights are shining in the dark,” said Min Ko Naing, a veteran of past campaigns against military rule, in a call to action. “We need to show how many people are against this unfair coup,” he added. The Ministry of Communications and Information said Facebook, used by half of Myanmar’s more than 53 million people, would be blocked until February 7 because users were “spreading fake news and misinformation and causing misunderstanding”.  Reuters