Norway investigates Telenor over Myanmar junta data sharing

Norway’s Police Security Service and National Criminal Investigation Service have opened separate investigations into telecoms group Telenor over its work with Myanmar’s military regime. Officers raided Telenor’s Oslo headquarters on Tuesday.

The National Criminal Investigation Service is examining complicity in crimes against humanity, covering the period from the February 2021 coup until Telenor sold its Myanmar subsidiary in March 2022. Officials said the company repeatedly handed historical customer traffic data to the regime while it was committing widespread abuses against civilians.

The Police Security Service is investigating sanctions violations, saying the sale of the Myanmar unit included sanctioned surveillance equipment and went ahead without approval from Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Telenor said its staff faced imprisonment, torture or the death penalty if military orders were not followed, and that it has already supplied documents to investigators.