For years Myanmar’s paranoid junta blocked websites such as Gmail and YouTube. However, when Google chairman Eric Schmidt visits this week, he will find a small but flourishing internet community.
Long cut off from the rest of the world by sanctions and repressive laws imposed by the generals who ruled it for decades, Myanmar still has poor internet penetration – and connections are painfully slow.
But those who do manage to surf the net have witnessed a dramatic transformation, with once-blocked exile media websites such as the Democratic Voice of Burma now accessible along with social networking sites, which have become wildly popular, particularly among young Burmese.
In stark contrast to the past, nowadays almost all websites are freely available, said Ye Min Oo, 28, a technician at an Internet cafe in Yangon.
“Even governmental officials use Gmail,” he said.