Myanmar's junta has blocked Facebook and other messaging services in the name of ensuring stability as they consolidate power following a coup and the detention of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
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Thursday's move to silence online activists came after police filed charges against Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi for illegally importing communications equipment.
International pressure meanwhile continues to grow for the junta to accept the results of November elections won by her party in a landslide.
Inside Myanmar, opposition to the junta has emerged strongly on Facebook, which is the main internet platform for the country and underpins communications for business and government.
People in Yangon and other cities banged on pots and pans and honked car horns for a second night on Wednesday in protest; images circulated widely on Facebook.
The social network has also been used to share images of a campaign of disobedience by staff at government hospitals across the country, who accuse the army of putting its interests above a coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 3100 people, one of the highest tolls in Southeast Asia.
The Ministry of Communications and Information said Facebook, used by half of Myanmar's 53 million people, would be blocked until February 7.
"Currently the people who are troubling the country's stability ... are spreading fake news and misinformation and causing misunderstanding among people by using Facebook," the ministry said in a letter.
Disruptions were patchy however. Some people found they could still access Facebook even if connections were slow. Some used VPNs to evade the blockage.
Suu Kyi has not been seen since her arrest in the early hours of Monday along with other top leaders of her National League for Democracy.
An NLD official has said she is under house arrest in the capital, Naypyidaw, but there has been no word on her whereabouts from the junta.
The NLD won about 80 per cent of the vote in the November 8 polls, according to the election commission, a result the military has refused to accept, citing unsubstantiated allegations of fraud.
The United Nations said it would increase international pressure to ensure the will of the people is respected.
"We will do everything we can to mobilise all the key actors and international community to put enough pressure on Myanmar to make sure this coup fails," United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said during an interview broadcast by The Washington Post on Wednesday.
"It is absolutely unacceptable after elections - elections that I believe took place normally - and after a large period of transition."
Addressing the coup in Myanmar was a priority for the United States and Washington was reviewing possible sanctions in response, the White House said on Wednesday.
Police said six walkie-talkie radios had been found in a search of Suu Kyi's home in Naypyidaw that were imported illegally and used without permission.
ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights chair Charles Santiago said the charges against Suu Kyi were ludicrous.
"This is an absurd move by the junta to try to legitimise their illegal power grab", he said.
In court documents, police requested Suu Kyi's detention "in order to question witnesses, request evidence and seek legal counsel after questioning the defendant".
A separate document showed police filed charges against ousted President Win Myint, who was also detained on Monday, for violating protocols to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Australian Associated Press
