Norway Police Probe Telenor Over Suspected Crimes Against Humanity In Myanmar

⚠ Norwegian police said on Tuesday they are investigating Telenor on suspicion that the telecoms operator aided and abetted crimes against humanity in Myanmar following the military coup in 2021. Investigators raided Telenor's headquarters in Oslo on Tuesday related to the case, which also includes suspected sanctions violations, Norway's National Criminal Investigation Service and the PST security service said in a statement.

📊 "Telenor Myanmar repeatedly handed over historical traffic data about customers to the military regime ... at the same time as the regime was responsible for extensive abuses against parts of the civilian population," police said. Telenor, which sold its business in Myanmar following the coup and completed its exit from the country in March 2022, said it was cooperating closely with the investigators and will do everything in its power to assist in clarifying the case.

📜 Data Sharing With Military Regime

Earlier this year a Swedish non-profit filed a class-action lawsuit alleging Telenor Myanmar shared call logs and location data of suspected political opponents of the junta, leading to the execution of at least one prominent activist. The data sharing allegation — that Telenor's customer data was used by the military regime to identify, track and prosecute political opponents — represents one of the most serious corporate accountability cases in the telecommunications sector globally.

• 📜 Investigation: Crimes against humanity + sanctions violations
• 🏛 HQ raided: Telenor headquarters, Oslo (Tuesday)
• 📊 Investigators: National Criminal Investigation Service + PST security service
• 📊 Allegation: Handed over customer traffic data to Myanmar military
• 💰 Sanctions issue: Transferred "sanctioned surveillance equipment"
• 📅 Telenor Myanmar exit completed: March 2022
• 👥> Class-action lawsuit: Filed by Swedish non-profit (earlier this year)

📜 Telenor's Defence: Impossible Situation

"The military coup was a tragedy for the people of Myanmar, in which we found ourselves placed in an impossible situation with no good alternatives," Telenor said in a statement to Reuters. "Employees risked imprisonment, torture or the death penalty if the military authorities' orders were not complied with. We found that we had no real choice, and that we could not put our employees' lives at risk," the company said. No individuals have been charged or are under investigation, Telenor added.

Telenor's defence — that compliance with military orders was necessary to protect local employees from imprisonment, torture or execution — raises the classic ethical dilemma of corporate operations under authoritarian regimes. The question of whether a company can be held legally accountable for complying with local government orders when those orders facilitate human rights violations is at the heart of the investigation. The Norwegian police's decision to investigate suggests that the "we had no choice" defence may not provide legal immunity under Norwegian or international law.

💰 Sanctioned Surveillance Equipment Transfer

Telenor's sale of the Myanmar business included the transfer of "sanctioned surveillance equipment" and the company is under investigation for not obtaining permission for the transaction from Norway's foreign ministry, police said. The sanctioned equipment allegation adds a separate dimension to the case — involving potential violation of Norwegian sanctions law rather than just the data-sharing conduct. The failure to obtain foreign ministry permission for the transfer of sanctioned equipment suggests a procedural lapse that could carry independent legal consequences regardless of the broader crimes-against-humanity investigation.

🤝 Justice For Myanmar Response

"We welcome the decisions of Norwegian police to finally open investigations into Telenor for their violations of Norwegian and international law in Myanmar," Yadanar Maung, a spokesperson for activist group Justice For Myanmar, told Reuters. The organisation has worked with the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) to present its case to Norwegian investigators. "Telenor's transfer of spyware to a military-linked company and sharing of sensitive data with the military junta was extensively documented in the submission we made to the police with ICJ Norway. We hope this will finally lead to accountability for the harms Telenor has caused Myanmar people through its conduct and its dangerous divestment."

🌏 Implications For Bangladesh

For Bangladesh, the Telenor investigation carries indirect but relevant implications. Telenor is a significant shareholder in Grameenphone — Bangladesh's largest mobile operator with over 80 million subscribers. While the investigation concerns Telenor's Myanmar operations (which it exited in 2022), the corporate governance implications extend to Telenor's global operations. If the investigation finds Telenor culpable of aiding crimes against humanity, the reputational and legal consequences could affect the company's global governance standards — including its oversight of Grameenphone's data handling practices in Bangladesh.

The case also serves as a broader cautionary tale for telecommunications companies operating in countries with authoritarian governance risks — highlighting the importance of robust data protection frameworks, transparent government request handling procedures, and clear protocols for responding to state demands for customer data that may facilitate human rights violations. For Bangladesh's growing digital ecosystem, the Telenor case underscores the importance of maintaining strong legal protections for customer data privacy that prevent the kind of data-sharing conduct now under investigation in Norway.