Countries may backtrack on democracy, but never on Facebook usage. By April 12, 2021 A street vendor displays mobile SIM cards in Yangon, Myanmar, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2021. Credit: AP Photo Advertisement Just over two months ago, on the first day of February, an aerobics instructor in Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw filmed a soon-to-be-famous fitness video. The clip shows the woman vigorously performing her routine – fists pumping, body bouncing side to side – in a traffic roundabout as a convoy of armored vehicles cruises by in the background. She had, of course, unknowingly documented the rapidly unfolding coup. What made the footage so compelling was that, even as it captured the country’s democratic regression in real-time, it also reflected a level of technological and economic advancement that once seemed unattainable. Only a decade ago, less than 1 percent of Myanmar’s population had access to the internet and even landline telephones were a rare luxury. Today, just over half of the country is online and smartphones like the one that recorded the workout video are cheap and widely available.