News
Thailands Government Gets More Censorship with Twitter
Thailand has become the first government to publicly endorse Twitter's controversial decision to censor messages in certain countries.
CHIANGRAI TIMES – In Thailand, where censorship laws are already heavily enforced, the information and communication technology minister, Jeerawan Boonperm, called Twitter’s decision a “welcome development” and said the ministry already received “good co-operation” from internet companies such as Google and Facebook.
Twitter announced last week it would permit country-specific censorship of content that could violate local laws, prompting debate worldwide over freedom of speech.
According to the regulations, a tweet from Thailand could be blocked at the request of an individual, a company, or the government. However, while it will be invisible to users in Thailand, the tweet can still be seen by users in other countries.
Thailand has some of the toughest censorship laws in the world, ranking it 153 out of 178 in Reporters Without Borders’ 2011 Press Freedom Index. Thailand’s lese-majeste regulations inhibit defamatory, insulting or threatening comments about the royal family, which are punishable by up to 15 years in prison, but under Thailand’s 2007 computer crimes act prosecutors have been able to increase sentences.
A lese-majeste monitoring centre was opened in December and is manned 24 hours a day by staff trawling the net for offensive material. Facebook users already face potential jail time if they click “like” or “share” on any sites deemed offensive to the monarchy, while anyone sending a link, forwarding or revisiting websites with lese-majeste content also need beware, authorities have said.
Despite open and repeated calls for relaxed censorship laws, Yingluck Shinawatra last week said the monarchy should be respected and vowed to “protect the institution, not exploit it”.
Thailand’s endorsement could have profound ramifications across the region, said Sunai Phasuk of Human Rights Watch Thailand, while it already “adds more damage to an already worrying trend in Thailand”.
“Twitter gives space to different opinions and views, and that is so important in a restricted society – it gives people a chance to speak up,” he said. “But if this censorship is welcomed by Thailand, then other countries, with worse records for human rights and freedom of speech, will find that they have an ally.”
