“Right now, if I watch horror, thriller, or war movies, it's not very horrifying for me anymore, because everything happened in real life in my country! There is no worse case than this anymore. So this time is for rebuilding, and we have to do so from an individual level. This is an old problem. This is not a new problem.”

In a recent podcast episode, Bradley discussed the evolution of online access in Myanmar, describing a dramatic shift from very limited availability early on to a robust digital landscape post-2012. He highlights the significance of the telecom revolution that drastically reduced SIM card prices, which then increased the number of online users and triggered transformative change across society. However, it also brought about a serious threat to freedom: Bradley explains how the Myanmar military has increasingly come to use digital tools for political repression, including social media manipulation, surveillance, and entire Internet shutdowns in targeted areas of the country. Despite these draconian measures, he highlights the resilience and adaptability of Myanmar's youth, who have innovatively used digital platforms for activism and resistance. He also addresses the broader implications of Myanmar's digital divide, the struggle for digital literacy, and the need for basic digital safety.

In the above quotation, Bradley reflects on the current crisis as a pivotal opportunity for Myanmar. He points out that amid the devastation, there lies a silver lining: the opportunity to rebuild the country, free from the burdens of historical constraints and past failures. He suggests that because the Burmese people have already lived through such terrible horrors, there are no greater fears left to confront, making this a powerful moment to revision the country’s future from the ground up. He emphasizes the need for individual and collective growth, advocating for a creative approach to tackling the country’s long-standing challenges. Bradley points out that while Myanmar has faced similar crises in past decades, they were often approached with the same, outdated perspectives, and so they only yielded the same, poor results. “We faced these coups several times, but we were solving those old problems with the same capacity, so we need to upgrade ourselves,” Bradley says.

He also hopes his peers are now thinking about what sort of future they wish to create, particularly how to improve the country’s digital architecture, to enable it to stay afloat and keep pace with a fast-changing global reality. “We don't have to make the mistakes of governance, political ideologies, the digital society; everything is changing!” he exclaims. He strongly believes in a brighter future for his country, and he is doing all he can to help bring this about. “Our ground is clear,” he says. “We are building from scratch. So to conclude, I have optimism that we can become like an Asian volcano!”

Real Life Horror Plays Out In Myanmar