<div>The Facebook page of the National Peace and Order Maintenance Council (NPOMC) has been stormed by song requests from Thai Internet users who have been frustrated by Thai nationalist right-wing songs from WWI, WWII and the Cold War era, played repeatedly when all broadcast media were ordered to stop broadcasting. &nbsp;</div> <div> </div>

<div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Under the century-old martial law declared by the army, a special body, set up on Wednesday to be responsible for internet censorship, vowed to shut down websites in an hour.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The body is composed of representatives from the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), the police, and the army’s special peacekeeping body, the Peace and Order Maintaining Command (POMC). </div></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The Appeal Court on Wednesday affirmed the decision of the Court of the First Instance, finding Surapak P. not guilty of creating a lèse majesté Facebook profile, parodying the oath of succession of the monarch, and of posting defamatory messages against the King on the Facebook profile.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div> </div>

<div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The Appeal Court on Wednesday affirmed the decision of the Court of the First Instance, finding Surapak P. not guilty of creating a lèse majesté Facebook page, parodying the oath of succession of the monarch.&nbsp;</div> <div> </div></div>

<div>Thais always seem to take things seriously when it comes to social media. &nbsp;At Toptens.com's the Worst World Leaders poll, Thaksin Shinawatra and his sister, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, recently deposed Adolf Hitler to number three on the list, with Thaksin ranked at number one and Yingluck at two.&nbsp;</div> <div> </div>

<p>In a way, Thai society should thank Mallika Boonmetrakul, deputy spokesperson of the Democrat Party, for speaking her mind last weekend. Mallika, a staunch royalist, said that if all attempts to block or ban online content deemed defamatory to the monarchy failed, then the government should adopt her &quot;final solution&quot; of blocking Facebook and YouTube completely.</p>

<p>Prachatai has been informed that in response to the Thai Ministry of Information and Communications Technology request to Facebook to remove 10,000 pages or URLs that are deemed by the Ministry to be offensive, an American citizen has formally written and delivered a request for investigation of the Thai request against the background of the Freedom of Information Act, the Speech Act of 2010, US constitutional safeguards and other laws relevant to free expression in a democratic society, to the US Department of Justice and foreign relations committees of both houses of Congress.</p>

<p>On 23 Nov, <a href="http://www.mcot.net/cfcustom/cache_page/297283.html">Grp Cpt Anudith Nakornthap</a>, Minister of Information and Communications Technology, said that the Ministry had asked Facebook headquarters to delete over 10,000 URLs or pages which contained pictures and messages offensive to the monarchy.</p>

<p>On 27 April, the Military Court arranged the dates for the trial of a squadron leader who has been charged with l&egrave;se majest&eacute;.&nbsp; The trial will start on 14 July, and will be held in secret, allowing only the defendant and his lawyers to attend.&nbsp; </p>

<p>The Ministry of Culture and the Department of Special Investigation will set up a panel to investigate <a href="http://www.sameskybooks.org/">Same Sky magazine</a> for alleged l&egrave;se majest&eacute; content.&nbsp; A group of royalists have urged a senate committee to take action against l&egrave;se majest&eacute; offenders on Facebook, and the DSI has posted an arrest warrant for a Facebook user. </p>