Thailand Cracks Down On Twitter, Facebook, Etc.

An anonymous reader writes "The ongoing poitical turmoil in Thailand has inspired the country's Ministry of Information, Computers, and Telecommunications to issue a stern warning that all users of the Internet in Thailand must 'use the internet in the right way or with appropriate purpose and avoid disseminating information that could create misunderstanding or instigate violent actions among the public', that 'all popular websites and social networks such as facebook, twitter, hi5 and my space [sic] will be under thorough watch,' and that 'Violators will be prosecuted by law with no compromise.' Thailand has draconian anti-lèse majesté laws which are routinely abused in order to settle political scores and silence dissent, and recently implemented a so-called 'Computer Crimes Act' which appears to be almost solely focused on thoughtcrimes and censorship, rather than dealing with, you know, actual crime. Several Web forums have recently been shut down, their operators charged because they failed to delete 'harmful posts' quickly enough to suit the Thai authorities."

Re:Internet - Mark II

[Hatta]

It's [freenetproject.org] been [sourceforge.net] done [torproject.org] already [i2p2.de].

Actual crime

[Sarten-X]

"actual crime"

If it's declared criminal in that jurisdiction, it's a crime. Whether it's morally right or wrong is dependent on your society.

I'm not saying I like it, but I'll respect Thailand's right to govern itself. If the people don't like it, revolt/leave/commit suicide. A leader without followers is just a person.

Re:Actual crime

[Anonymous Coward]

But he is correct even if you don't like his logic. Free Speech? Sure, as long as you don't talk about x, y, or z. Oh, and we may add a, b, and c to the restricted list later. And you have to identify yourself - the founders never meant it could be anonymous. The governments (of various countries) chip away at these "inalienable rights" you speak of daily. They'll continue until it comes to "you have the right to speak well of your government". The other rights are just as much in jeopardy.

Hardly apples and oranges

[Anonymous Coward]

You are right that censorship in general doesn't exactly have a track record of success, but you are comparing 2 very different situations (Thailand vs China)

You may not be aware of it, but Thailand is currently undergoing something between mass civil disorbedience to a a full-scale revolution. They declared state of emergency (which bans the gathering of 5 or more people, among other things) and deploying soldiers in the capital, soldiers are firing live rounds in addition to tear gas and the typical crowd control devices, and protesters have stormed parliament buildings and news station among other thing. It isn't civil war yet but it definitely is a crisis. The present level of censorship is meant as a short-term measure to weaken the protesters' ability to organize and spread information during what is essentially a combat zone.

Personally, between the government is banning any gathering of people and taking news stations off the airwaves and armies being deployed and armed clashes with hundreds of people dead or injured, there is a bigger issue than some forums being shutdown.