Volunteer 'Cyber Scouts' Censor Web In Thailand 112
societyofrobots writes "Since the military coup of 2006, Thailand's media freedoms have continually been downgraded. A growing tactic among the ruling elite is to accuse the political opposition of insulting the king, allowing for censorship and political imprisonment of those who dare speak out. In 2010, web censorship began to reach the scales of China and Iran. Now, Thailand has formed a group of volunteers called Cyber-Scouts to patrol the web looking for comments deemed to insult the monarchy. AFP also has a video."
Might as well get this over with. (Score:5, Informative)
Bhumibol Adulyadej likes horse cocks.
there we go.
now slashdot will be nice and invisible from Thailand.
Re:I don't get it (Score:5, Informative)
The King is playing a difficult game. If he too blatantly uses his reserve powers to bash the current leadership, he risks, regardless of how popular he is, undermining the Monarchy itself, which as you point out, is about the only defense the Thai people have against the current regime. As much as people so often decry monarchies in the modern age, they serve the purpose of depriving the government of the day of ultimately executive power, and because the succession is, to a very large degree, beyond political interference, the government has little capacity to get a friendly chief executive.
Re:are they? (Score:4, Informative)
That being said, the king almost never takes part in any political issue. It's for the government to handle, not the king. That's why neither side, not even the red shirts, will insult the king. He doesn't have any part in it and despite the internal conflicts, everyone loves the king. If someone really is insulting him, it's not for political reasons and hence can't be censoring political speech either.
Re:Might as well get this over with. (Score:2, Informative)
Bhumibol Adulyadej not only likes the delicacy of horse cock but also spends time with the sheep and goats in one huge farm orgy.
Re:Protect the children ? (Score:1, Informative)