By Prachatai |
<p>Royalist Marketplace, a Facebook group of 2.3 million members dedicated to frank discussions of the Thai monarchy, was rendered inaccessible in Thailand last night, according to the group founder.</p>
By Mong Palatino |
<p>Reflecting on events from the first half of 2021, IFEX’s Asia and Pacific Editor Mong Palatino explains how recent massive citizen protests and pushback against Asia’s digital authoritarians can provide lessons on what we need to do to support the region's pro-democracy movements and human rights campaigns.</p>
By Prachatai |
<p>Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha has withdrawn the 29th order under the Emergency Decree that banned the distribution of information causing fear or public disorder regardless of its veracity. This follows a Civil Court ruling to suspend the order on the grounds that it was unconstitutional and exceeded the powers of the government.</p>
By Prachatai |
<p>On 6 August, the Civil Court ordered the suspension of the 29th order under the Emergency Decree, which bans the distribution of information causing public fear or misinformation by cutting off access to the internet. </p>
By 17 undersigned Civil Society Organizations, see at the end of the article. |
<p>17 international human rights organizations denounced the Thai government’s newly announced Regulation No. 29, which empowers the authorities to censor online expression, and investigate and prosecute individuals responsible for communications that may “instigate fear”. The Regulation is the government’s latest attack on the right to freedom of expression and information in Thailand.</p>
By Prachatai |
<p>A <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQwS8BFYj3M">video</a> of human rights lawyer Anon Nampa in which he addresses monarchy reform is inaccessible from Prachatai’s YouTube channel. A YouTube spokesperson has stated via email that it is operating in line with a Thai government request.</p>
By Prachatai |
<p>Puttipong Punnakanta, Minister of the Digital Economy and Society (DES), says that Facebook has violated the Thai Computer Crime Act for blocking only 20 per cent of all illegal content whose removal has been requested by the authorities.</p>
By Khaosod English |
<p dir="ltr">Hacktivists posted online Tuesday documents they say contradict army denials it has purchased decryption devices that would allow access to encrypted computer traffic.</p>
<p>The Thai authorities have detained youths who allegedly carried out DDoS attacks against government websites in protest against the controversial new Computer Crime Act. </p>
<p>On 21 December 2016, Somsak Khaosuwan, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (MDES), revealed that the police have detained youths who were allegedly involved in carrying out Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks on the websites of ministries and state agencies.</p>
<p dir="ltr">A civil society group has called on people to engage in a social media campaign to prevent the junta’s lawmakers to pass the new draconian Computer Crime Bill.</p>
By Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) |
<p dir="ltr">It has been nine years since the Computer Crime Act (CCA) was promulgated in the wake of the 2006 coup to control the netizens in Thailand. Many websites have been blocked, often permanently without due process or remedy; and many internet users have unjustifiably faced criminal prosecution for expressing their opinion online. Now, the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) appointed by the 2014 coup-makers is considering amendments to the law as one of its primary agenda.</p>