Oct 28, 2008 : Thai Gov't to Block Offensive Sites
📅 - Thailand's government announced on Tuesday it plans to implement a firewall to block websites that are considered offensive to the country's monarch, as well as others that display inappropriate content, according to reports by the Associated Press.
Communications Minister Mun Patanotai said his ministry is contemplating on investing US$2.9 million to $14.6 million towards the firewall, which would track and block these "inappropriate" websites from the public.
Patanotai says the ministry has already been inundated with more than 1,000 complaints about websites that are considered offensive to the royal family, but would not disclose the specific websites, calling it a "sensitive" issue that would only "encourage Internet users to visit" such sites if he revealed their names.
He added that the government will first block any sites that violate lese majeste laws, then "monitor and block pornographic or terrorism-related sites."
Although Thailand is a constitutional monarchy, it still has strict lese majeste laws that enforce a jail sentence of 3 to 15 years for those individuals found guilty of defaming, insulting or threatening "the king, the queen, the heir to the throne or the Regent." These kinds of prosecutions, however, rarely occur in the country.
Currently, Internet service providers in the country only block those websites that are blacklisted by authorities. Last year, the Thailand government put forth the Computer Crime Act, granting authorities the power to censor the Internet and enforce penalties for those attempting to circumvent it.
The ministry will meet Wednesday to further discuss the plan with intelligence units and state telecommunications companies. Patanotai says that more than 80 percent of the websites in question stem from foreign countries.
The recent attempts by the local government to block websites seen as offensive to the monarchy comes amid an ongoing political uproar in Thailand.
In 2006, the Royal Thai Army staged a coup d'état against Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, following a year-long political crisis that centered around issues of media freedom, the constitution's role in breaking a political deadlock, and the nation's apparent political stability.
Both free speech and Internet censorship continue to be prevalent issues. China, in particular, is known for its efforts to censor any content on the Internet it deems politically subversive.
In November 2005, the Chinese government shut down a Chinese blog after it was nominated in the "freedom of expression" category of the Deutsche Welle International Weblog Awards 2005.
In June 2006, Google announced it would censor search results in China, filtering out anything the local government deems offensive or political insensitive, in order to gain access to one of the world's fastest growing markets.
Communications Minister Mun Patanotai said his ministry is contemplating on investing US$2.9 million to $14.6 million towards the firewall, which would track and block these "inappropriate" websites from the public.
Patanotai says the ministry has already been inundated with more than 1,000 complaints about websites that are considered offensive to the royal family, but would not disclose the specific websites, calling it a "sensitive" issue that would only "encourage Internet users to visit" such sites if he revealed their names.
He added that the government will first block any sites that violate lese majeste laws, then "monitor and block pornographic or terrorism-related sites."
Although Thailand is a constitutional monarchy, it still has strict lese majeste laws that enforce a jail sentence of 3 to 15 years for those individuals found guilty of defaming, insulting or threatening "the king, the queen, the heir to the throne or the Regent." These kinds of prosecutions, however, rarely occur in the country.
Currently, Internet service providers in the country only block those websites that are blacklisted by authorities. Last year, the Thailand government put forth the Computer Crime Act, granting authorities the power to censor the Internet and enforce penalties for those attempting to circumvent it.
The ministry will meet Wednesday to further discuss the plan with intelligence units and state telecommunications companies. Patanotai says that more than 80 percent of the websites in question stem from foreign countries.
The recent attempts by the local government to block websites seen as offensive to the monarchy comes amid an ongoing political uproar in Thailand.
In 2006, the Royal Thai Army staged a coup d'état against Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, following a year-long political crisis that centered around issues of media freedom, the constitution's role in breaking a political deadlock, and the nation's apparent political stability.
Both free speech and Internet censorship continue to be prevalent issues. China, in particular, is known for its efforts to censor any content on the Internet it deems politically subversive.
In November 2005, the Chinese government shut down a Chinese blog after it was nominated in the "freedom of expression" category of the Deutsche Welle International Weblog Awards 2005.
In June 2006, Google announced it would censor search results in China, filtering out anything the local government deems offensive or political insensitive, in order to gain access to one of the world's fastest growing markets.
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