Thailand’s military government is introducing legislation to censor the internet. Various sites deemed dangerous to national security have been blocked. Two new pieces of legislation would impose up to five years in prison and US$ 2,700 in fines.

Bangkok (AsiaNews/Agencies) – A campaign to censor internet is underway in Thailand by the military government that took power in September 19, 2006, in a coup that ousted then prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, this according to Human Rights Watch.

“A major complaint about Thaksin was his muzzling of the media and willingness to limit free speech," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The military-backed government promised a quick return to democracy, but it's now attacking freedom of expression and political pluralism in ways that Thaksin never dared.”

“Freedom of expression, including offering opinions on the Internet, is an essential basis of any functioning democracy,” Adams said. “Blocking critical websites resembles the behaviour of China and Vietnam. Is this the company that Thailand's leaders want to keep?”

Since the coup, the government has blocked at least five websites on charges of threatening national security. Among those targeted there are two that are part of the September 19 Network (www.19sep.net and www.19sep.org) and one that is pro-Thaksin PTV television.

Although these websites cannot be by local internet surfers in Thailand, who get an "Access Denied" message, they are still accessible from abroad.

Many local radio stations have also come under close scrutiny on national security grounds.

Human Rights Watch further noted that the “Ministry [of Information and Communications Technology] asked Google Thailand and Google.com to block access to its cached web pages in Thailand by which blocked pages can be accessed, as well as to block by keyword search.”

The New York-based human rights organisation did not however mention Thailand's recent blocking of Google's YouTube.com website after it aired clips that ridiculed Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the country's revered monarch.

Thailand’s current government has passed a law to criminalise the production, possession, storage, dissemination of and access to prohibited information on the Internet. It is also in the process of vetting a bill that would create computer-related offences and empower the minister of Information and Communications Technology to intercept and seize computer data, and seek court orders to block the dissemination of information on the Internet if such information was deemed a threat to national security.

The two pieces of legislation include stiff penalties of up to five-years in prison and US$ 2,700 in fines.

• thailand
• internet
• censorship
• military
• government