The alleged crimes are said to have occurred from the start of the military coup on 1 February 2021 until the sale of Telenor’s wholly owned subsidiary, Telenor Myanmar Ltd. (TML), on 25 March 2022.
“The Norwegian Helsinki Committee welcomes such an investigation, which we have previously advocated,” said Secretary General Berit Lindeman. “We have followed the case concerning Telenor’s operations in Myanmar and its withdrawal from the country, and we believe it is of great importance, both for the victims of the military regime and for those who trusted Telenor to handle sensitive information about their online activities responsibly, that a credible and thorough investigation be conducted.”
Telenor was among the largest foreign investors in Myanmar’s telecommunications sector following the country’s political opening in the 2010s. The company received its licence in 2013 and launched mobile operations in 2014. Within a few years, it had built a mobile network covering much of the country and acquired more than 18 million customers.
After the military coup in Myanmar on 1 February 2021, the situation changed dramatically. The military junta imposed extensive requirements on telecommunications companies regarding surveillance, censorship, and the disclosure of user data. Telenor stated that it faced demands that, if unmet, could put its employees at risk.
In July 2021, Telenor announced it would withdraw from Myanmar. The sale was controversial because human rights organisations feared that customer data and surveillance equipment could fall under the control of the military regime.
Telenor’s operations and exit from Myanmar are among the most controversial international business cases in recent Norwegian corporate history because they raise questions about corporate responsibility in authoritarian regimes. In its 2022 report, Doing Business in Authoritarian States: Tackling Dilemmas While Preserving Integrity, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee described the dilemmas Telenor faced when it came under intense pressure from the military junta. Should the company risk its employees’ health and lives to protect its customers from a regime willing to use any means necessary?
Since then, considerably more information has emerged about the consequences of Telenor’s data transfer through complaints filed with the Norwegian police by Justice for Myanmar and ICJ Norway, as well as through NRK’s extensive investigative reporting.
In June 2026, NRK published an interview with a former Telenor executive in Myanmar who claimed that the company had not been fully transparent about the status of a surveillance system known as the Lawful Intercept Gateway (LIG). The source challenged public statements by former Telenor executives regarding whether the system had been completed or tested before the coup.
“What was new in NRK’s revelations was neither the brutality of the junta’s treatment of democracy activists nor Telenor’s provision of the information the regime requested. The company has been open about that,” said Deputy Secretary General Gunnar M. Ekeløve-Slydal. “What was new was the concrete nature of the documentation. Telenor passed on information about specifically identified individuals despite knowing the consequences could be extremely serious. According to NRK, Telenor supplied data relating to 536 telephone numbers in cases where the company itself had concluded that there was a ‘significant risk that customers could be arrested if the company shared personal data with the junta’.”
“If the investigation leads to a trial, it may provide important legal clarification on corporate responsibility, sanctions compliance, and the threshold for complicity in serious international crimes,” Lindeman said. “It is important to get to the bottom of this case, which also concerns Norway’s credibility as a supporter of democracy and human rights. The Norwegian state is Telenor’s majority shareholder.”
Many of Telenor’s customers were members of the opposition. The company enjoyed a strong reputation in such circles and among activists for emphasising human rights and corporate responsibility. In its statement explaining the charges against the company, the police acknowledged that Telenor was operating in a difficult situation, “but even in very difficult situations, there are limits to what may lawfully be done. The threshold for invoking a defence of necessity in a case of this gravity will be high.”
The fact that Norwegian police can investigate Telenor ASA is made possible by a provision in Norwegian law on corporate criminal liability. Under Section 27 of the Norwegian Penal Code, a company may be held criminally liable when a criminal offence has been committed on behalf of the undertaking. Corporate criminal liability also exists in several other countries, but what makes this case unusual is that it concerns such a grave offence. Crimes against humanity are among the most serious crimes under both Norwegian and international law. The investigation could also lead to charges being brought against individuals.
The closest comparable case, as far as the Norwegian Helsinki Committee is aware, is that of the cement producer Lafarge in Syria. The French company and four employees have been convicted of financing a terrorist organisation (ISIS) and violating sanctions, while the company remains under investigation for complicity in crimes against humanity.
It is also worth noting the case against Lundin Oil in South Sudan, which alleges that the company sought military protection while knowing that Sudanese government forces and allied militias were committing widespread war crimes. The allegation is that the company’s operations contributed to these crimes. A final judgment has not yet been delivered.
Taken together with these cases, the investigation into Telenor sends an important signal that companies may be held accountable for involvement in extremely serious crimes. It demonstrates that operating in a challenging environment such as Myanmar requires considerable expertise and sound judgment.
«Companies must be prepared to deal with the worst-case scenario», Lindeman said.
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