For 56 days straight, there have been Internet outages in coup-hit Myanmar, according to monitoring group NetBlocks.
The country has been in turmoil since democratically-elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi was ousted in a Feb 1 coup, triggering a mass uprising that has resulted in a brutal security crackdown and more than 700 civilian deaths.
Thirty-year-old Lynn Thant, not his real name, started the underground newsletter and gave it the edgy name Molotov to appeal to young people.
"This is our response to those who slow down the flow of information - and that's a threat to us," he told AFP.
Thousands of readers across the country are downloading the PDF version of the publication and printing out and distributing physical copies across neighbourhoods in Yangon and Mandalay and other areas.
Mr Lynn Thant is conscious of the risks involved.
Police and soldiers arrested more than 3,000 people since the putsch, according to local monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
"If we write revolutionary literature and distribute it like this, we could end up in prison for many years," he said, his face concealed by one of the Guy Fawkes masks popularised by the dystopian movie V For Vendetta.
"Even if one of us is arrested, there are young people who will carry on producing the Molotov newsletter. Even if one of us is killed, someone else will come up when someone falls. This Molotov newsletter will continue to exist until the revolution is successful," he said.
He said the publication had a reach of more than 30,000 people on Facebook so far and the main audience was Generation Z activists.
Copies of the newsletter are also being distributed under the radar at produce markets.
Myanmar lived under military rule for 49 years before it transitioned to democracy in 2011.
The country has a long history of underground publications attempting to circumvent junta suppression.
<p>CORRECTION / This screengrab provided via AFPTV video footage taken on April 10, 2021 shows Lynn Thant (an alias) wearing a mask next to a laptop where they are working on an underground newsletter to spread information in Yangon, amid internet outages as demonstrations continue against the military coup. (Photo by - / AFPTV / AFP) / “The erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadata of this photo by - has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: [Lynn] instead of [Lin]. Please immediately remove the erroneous mention[s] from all your online services and delete it (them) from your servers. If you have been authorized by AFP to distribute it (them) to third parties, please ensure that the same actions are carried out by them. Failure to promptly comply with these instructions will entail liability on your part for any continued or post notification usage. Therefore we thank you very much for all your attention and prompt action. We are sorry for the inconvenience this notification may cause and remain at your disposal for any further information you may require.”</p>
PHOTO: AFPTV
Independent media is under threat, with 64 journalists arrested since the coup and 33 still in detention, according to monitoring group Reporting Asean.
The junta has also revoked the licences of five media outlets.
