Thailand's junta is ramping up pressure on internet giants Google and
Facebook — and the popular messaging app Line — to scrub the country's
web of any content it dislikes, officials confirmed yesterday.
The military seized power in a 2014 coup and has launched the
harshest rights crackdowns in decades, arresting critics, muzzling the
media and banning political gatherings or protests.
The web, in particular social media, has remained one of the few
avenues open to Thais to speak out — though not without risks.
Prosecutions have soared with many arrested for online posts.
Junta officials are now seeking face-to-face meetings with major web
companies to try and speed up how quickly they take down objectionable
content.
Police Major-General Pisit Paoin, from the junta's committee on mass
media reform, said officials would meet with Google, Facebook and Line
over the next three months "to ask for their co-operation in dealing
with illegal images or clips that affect security and the nation's core
institution."
"There have been tens of thousand of the illegal posts over the past five years," he said.
Officials held the first of their meetings with Google recently.
Minutes of that meeting were leaked last week by hackers and later
published widely by local media showing Thai officials are pushing for
big web companies to agree to takedowns without a court order.
Maj-Gen Pisit said large web companies have reacted with reluctance
over the past five years to previous requests to censor content.
"We have received better response from Google in the US (since the
meeting)," he said. "Now we plan on talking with Line and Facebook."
Globally, web firms must comply with local laws and routinely block content within that country if presented with a court order.
But the leaked minutes suggest the Thai junta want a far more lenient standard adopted.
In a statement Line said it "has yet to be contacted by an official
entity requesting such censorship" but added that "the privacy of Line
users is our top priority."
"Once we have been officially contacted, we will perform our due
diligence towards the related parties and consider an appropriate
solution that does not conflict with our company's global standards, nor
the laws of Thailand," the statement added.
The Japanese company is by far the most popular social messaging app
in Thailand and is even used by many government ministries and police
stations to officially brief media.
Last week, a man was arrested for sharing a video allegedly mocking
junta leader Prayuth Chan-o-cha with his friends on Line, suggesting the
Thai authorities are already monitoring the messenger for content it
disapproves of.
Facebook and Google have yet to respond to AFP's requests for comment.
Source: Coconuts.co
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