Thai junta push Google, Facebook and Line to scrub web
Thai junta push Google, Facebook and Line to scrub web
AFP 9 hours ago
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 Tuesday.
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 for lese majeste, so-called computer crimes and sedition 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," a euphemism for the monarchy.
"There have been tens of thousands of the illegal
posts over the past five years", he told AFP.
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.
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 Prayut Chan-O-Cha with his friends on Line,
suggesting Thai authorities are already monitoring the messenger for content it
disapproves of.
Facebook and Google have yet to respond to AFP requests
for comment.
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