- On 15 September 2026, Norwegian authorities opened two separate criminal investigations into Telenor ASA concerning its former operations in Myanmar. Telenor is formally suspected of complicity in crimes against humanity and breaching Norwegian sanctions legislation.
- Norway’s National Criminal Investigation Service (Kripos) is investigating whether Telenor was complicit in crimes against humanity between the Myanmar military coup on 1 February 2021 and the completion of Telenor’s sale of its Myanmar subsidiary on 25 March 2022. Kripos has national responsibility for investigating war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.
- Kripos states that the investigation concerns Telenor Myanmar’s repeated disclosure of historical customer traffic data to the military regime during a period when the regime was committing widespread abuses against civilians. The investigation will examine whether Telenor’s conduct amounted to criminal complicity in crimes against humanity.
- The Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) has opened a separate investigation into a potential breach of Norwegian sanctions legislation. PST’s mandate includes responsibility for investigating offences, including breaches of Norway’s Sanctions Act and export-control legislation .
- PST is investigating whether Telenor’s 2022 sale of its Myanmar business included sanctioned surveillance equipment without the required permission from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- Kripos and PST jointly searched Telenor’s headquarters on 15 September, following decisions by the Oslo District Court. The investigations cover substantially the same period and have overlapping evidence requirements.
- Telenor stated on 15 September that its employees risked imprisonment, torture or the death penalty if they did not comply with the military authorities’ orders. The company stated that it had no real choice and could not put its employees’ lives at risk. However, a previous OECD NCP case determined that Telenor’s systematic prioritisation of its own employees over other rightsholders was not in accordance with the OECD Guidelines (see below).
Existing cases against Telenor
- In December 2025, the Norwegian OECD National Contact Point (NCP) concluded that Telenor had not carried out ongoing human rights due diligence commensurate with the severity and likelihood of all the adverse impacts in Myanmar.
- The NCP also found that Telenor’s due diligence had systematically prioritised its own employees over other rightsholders, stating that this was not in accordance with the expectations of the OECD Guidelines. The NCP process is non-judicial, and its findings do not result in legal sanctions.
- A separate class action filed in April 2026 alleged that Telenor disclosed customer data to Myanmar’s military, which used it to track, arrest and persecute opponents. The case was brought by the Justice and Accountability Initiative (JAIMM), with support from SOMO and the Open Society Justice Initiative, on behalf of affected Myanmar customers.
- On 16 September, according to JAIMM , the District Court rejected Telenor’s objection to the case proceeding as a class action, allowing it to proceed on an opt-out basis on behalf of at least 1,253 customers. Telenor has one month to appeal the decision. If no appeal is filed, the case will proceed on its merits.
- A full review of the class action will be provided in the next edition of RBC3.