"European govts back company that uses Chinese tech to monitor Myanmar internet users", 23 May 2025

… An investigation by Finance Uncovered (FU) and Myanmar Now (MN) has collected evidence from multiple sources indicating that Frontiir has installed equipment capable of tracking people online, blocking websites and preventing people from using virtual private networks (VPNs) which allow users to side-step censorship controls.

The equipment was developed by Geedge Networks, a controversial Chinese cybersecurity company founded by the so-called father of China’s Great Firewall, Fang Binxing…

… Since the February 2021 coup, human rights observers say nearly 2,000 people have been arrested for criticising the junta online, or posting support for anti-regime groups…

A spokesperson for Frontiir denied that it had ever “built, planned, or designed anything related to surveillance” on its network in a statement sent to FU, saying any such claims were “completely false.”

It has also told its European investors that “its network has never been used by the Myanmar government to intercept or decrypt communication.”…

‘Security and intelligence’

From its Beijing research and development centre, Geedge boasts it is a “global provider of network security and intelligence equipment and solutions.”

Co-founded by Fang Binxing, the man credited with building China’s Great Firewall, one of the world’s most notorious internet censorship systems, Geedge claims it offers “encrypted traffic visibility” to broadband service providers and telecommunications companies around the world.

… Norfund, the IFU and BII said the company told them that Frontiir was required to lay the cables as part of its licence, but they were never used.

… Pressed by reporters, spokespeople for the UK, Norwegian and Danish development funds all said Frontiir had assured them it was not enabling surveillance by Myanmar’s junta or handing over data on its users to authorities.

“To date, we have seen no evidence that the Myanmar government has accessed the Frontiir network to intercept or decrypt communications,” said a spokesperson for the BII, adding the company had assured them it has “never been subject to interception.”

… Norfund said it had been monitoring its stake via its investment partner, which said Frontiir had assured them it does not host a surveillance system that can decrypt web traffic or correlate web traffic to users’ private data…

The IFU echoed the other funds in its responses, saying Frontiir had assured the fund that it had never provided user information to authorities or installed any system that “can monitor and decrypt any encrypted data.”

As a result, a spokesperson said, “we have not identified compelling arguments to suggest that relinquishing our equity stake in the company would contribute positively to the situation in Myanmar.”

… In written statements sent to reporters, BII, Norfund and IFU said they followed OECD guidelines.