Aung San Suu Kyi gets an internet connection

Aung San Suu Kyi. (Getty Images)

Aung San Suu Kyi had never surfed the web before … before now!

The famed Burmese dissident was connected to the internet on Thursday at her Inya Lake home in Burma. She plans to use to the web to network with supporters, and she isn't deterred by the prospect of government surveillance despite. State-owned Yatanarporn Teleport runs her service, as reported by The Irrawaddy.

Suu Kyi was released in November after being under house arrest on and off for more than a decade. Some (like our very own Patrick Winn) reported that her release wasn't purely good news, given the fact that the junta probably wouldn't have released her had they considered her a big enough threat.

But in an age of online organizing, access to the internet could change that. Fellow members of her National League for Democracy party have said they will help her learn how to use proxy sites to circumvent state firewalls.

Considering that until recently, Suu Kyi had never even used a mobile phone, this is somewhat of a technological coup for the 65-year-old. In an exclusive interview, Suu Kyi told GlobalPost that she only used a mobile phone for the first time after she was released. "I had difficulty coping with it because it seemed so small and insubstantial," she said, mentioning that she thought it would be a little while before she "graduated" to email. Welcome to email, Suu Kyi. There's a whole world out there.