Update:
On September 17, 2026, Asker and Bærum District Court in Norway allowed a
lawsuit against Telenor to proceed
. The case was filed by the Justice & Accountability Initiative on behalf of people’s whose data was shared by Telenor with the Myanmar military.
On September 15, 2026, Norwegian authorities announced
an investigation
into Telenor for suspected crimes against humanity and sanctions violations in Myanmar following the 2021 military coup. For years, Access Now and civil society have
raised the alarm
over Telenor’s hasty and irresponsible departure from Myanmar and the potential human rights abuses should Telenor sell its Myanmar enterprise to the
military-linked
M1 Group.
The decision to file charges against Telenor follows a police complaint
filed
by
Justice for Myanmar
and
ICJ Norway
last year. Earlier this year, the Swedish human rights group
Justice and Accountability Initiative (JAI)
, with the support of various Myanmar civil society organizations and EU-based groups, also
filed a class-action lawsuit
against Telenor.
As we clearly laid out to Telenor when the company first announced its departure from Myanmar, its manner of withdrawal was an abandonment that left those who relied on its services more vulnerable than ever by putting their data in the hands of the military-linked M1 Group. The investigation into Telenor by the Norwegian authorities is a recognition that companies cannot act with impunity and put people’s data and lives at risk.
Isedua Oribhabor, Business and Human Rights Manager at Access Now
In August 2021, Access Now, along with 44 organizations, laid out the
potential dangers
of this sale to the Telenor board, calling for it to stop the sale and conduct human rights due diligence in line with international standards. Telenor responded on
September 3, 2021
. Ultimately, Telenor refused to listen to civil society and
proceeded with the sale
.
For years, civil society warn
… [more]
