<p>Following the report of a court order to <a href="https://prachatai.com/english/node/8859">suspend</a>&nbsp;Voice TV&#39;s online platforms, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have issued statements on the government&#39;s attempt to shut down media outlets.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Voice TV&rsquo;s online platforms are facing suspension after the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (DES) obtained a court order for its suspension, claiming that it has violated the Computer Crimes Act and the order of the chief official under the severe state of emergency.</p>

<p>The Thai authorities have issued an order under the Emergency Decree for an investigation into and possible suspension of four media outlets: Voice TV, Prachatai, The Reporters, and The Standard, as well as the student activist group Free Youth&#39;s Facebook page, for their coverage of the recent protests in Thailand.&nbsp;</p>

<p>On 13.00 - 15.00 of 14 August, three men with short hair claiming to be undercover police appeared in the vicinity of the Prachatai and Thai Volunteer Service offices.</p>

<p>Never before have people&#39;s messages about the monarchy, be they satirical or direct, substantial demands for monarchy reform, appeared widely in protests countrywide. But these messages do not make it into the mainstream media due to legal and moral fears.</p>

<p>On 9 July, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) announced the launch of the #HoldTheLine campaign in support of journalist Maria Ressa and independent media under attack in the Philippines.</p>

<p>The conviction of a prominent journalist for criminal libel is a devastating blow to media freedom in the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hrw.org/asia/philippines">Philippines</a>, <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/06/15/philippines-rappler-verdict-blow-media-freedom">Human Rights Watch said today</a>.</p>

<p>Amnesty International responds to the cease-and-desist order issued by&nbsp;the Philippines&#39; National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), effectively stopping operations of ABS-CBN, one of the country&#39;s largest broadcast media companies, after repeated attacks on the network by President Rodrigo Duterte.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Today (27 April), the ICJ and Lawyers&rsquo; Rights Watch Canada (LRWC) jointly submitted a legal brief (amicus curiae) to the Court of Appeal in criminal defamation proceeding against Thai journalist Suchanee Cloitre.</p>

<p>Thailand is ranked 140th in Reporters Without Borders (RSF)&rsquo;s <a href="https://rsf.org/en/2020-world-press-freedom-index-entering-decisive-decade-journalism-exacerbated-coronavirus">2020 World Press Freedom Index</a>, four places below its 2019 ranking at 136th, while hyper-control and nationalist populism threaten press freedom in the Asia-Pacific.&nbsp;</p>