Lese Majeste Youtube Ban To Remain In Effect For Now

[george]

LESE MAJESTE

YouTube ban to remain in effect for now

Blockage of popular video website won't end until still image is removed: minister

BANGKOK: -- The blockage imposed on the YouTube website in Thailand will continue until a particular still image from a contentious video clip regarded as lese-majeste is also removed from the website, Information and Com-munications Technology (ICT) Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom said yesterday.

He said the earlier removal of the 44-second film clip containing the content from the US-based website was not enough.

"We also want that picture removed before we unblock YouTube," he added.

The ministry earlier said it would impose the blockade indefinitely until other measures were adopted or YouTube decided to remove the lese-majeste video clip without conditions.

Next Monday, police and the ministry will work out issues to deal with such a case in the future.

Sitthichai said he was "dismayed" and complained bitterly when Google Inc, which owns YouTube, refused to remove the content, citing that it still kept material mocking US President George W Bush far more harshly than what was deemed inappropriate against His Majesty the King.

Sitthichai added that YouTube insisted it would still keep the clip.

"YouTube said it thought there was not enough reason to remove the clip after viewing the video and making its judgement on the content," he added.

He described the posting as "unacceptable" to all Thais.

"Thailand is a small country and has no negotiating power to get the content removed from YouTube. What we can do now is block the YouTube service locally, until the clip is removed," he added.

During the ICT Ministry-ordered blockade, any Internet service provider in Thailand found to be hosting websites containing content that insults His Majesty or the Royal Family or still leaves access to YouTube open to local users will have its operating licences revoked immediately.

The clip was later removed, not long after the blockade of YouTube began in Thailand on Tuesday night.

A message on the YouTube page where the clip was used said the 44-second video clip in Flash format was removed by the user - self-described as a US-based, 30-year old with the user name "Paddidda".

After posting the clip not long after March 25, when he or she registered to use the service, the user never logged into the page until yesterday evening, when the clip was removed, said a note posted yesterday on the YouTube page in question.

Associated Press explained how the content in the video clip violated lese-majeste law. The number of visitors accessing the YouTube page reached 66,553, before the clip was pulled.

In an e-mail statement on Wednesday night, YouTube spokeswoman Julie Supan said the company was "disappointed" its site had been blocked.

-- The Nation, AP 2007-04-06

[george]

Update: YouTube video affair escalates

BANGKOK: -- YouTube and Google wiped out the last remnants of an offensive video slideshow demeaning His Majesty the King.

But it appeared that the dispute, fanned into worldwide front-page headlines by a Thai government ban on YouTube, had only just begun.

Within an hour of the disappearance of the first video and its uploader, a user calling himself "thaifreespeech" had uploaded an all new video, containing even more offensive images of His Majesty the King than the original.

"Thaifreespeech" added an attack on Thai laws and asking rhetorically if "US people in the US (should) respect Thai traditions and rule of law".

In an hour, the number of views of the video rocketed from 122 to 7,856 and going up. Comments in the same hour early this morning Thailand time rose from nine to 160. As before, most commenters attacked the video, often in rude terms.

--Bangkok Post 2007-04-06

[george]

Update:

Thailand outraged over new YouTube King videos

BANGKOK: -- Thailand on Friday expressed outrage at the posting of new videos mocking the country's revered king on the video-sharing website YouTube, pledging to maintain a ban on the site.

The military-installed government banned YouTube this week after it failed to block the first video deemed insulting to King Bhumibol Adulyadej, regarded by many Thais as semi-divine.

One of the new clips showed pictures of the king that had been digitally altered to make him resemble a monkey, and carried messages saying Thailand's leaders are "evil and hate free speech".

Another used an expletive to denounce the king and the government.

"This group of people has found another outlet, taking another action that is considered very offensive to the king," said communications ministry spokesman Vissanu Meeyoo.

"Thailand doesn't want to take this kind of action. We are just doing it temporarily," he said of the ban imposed on Tuesday.

The original video appeared to have been withdrawn by its creator, with a notice on the site saying it had been "removed by the user".

But more clips, posted by users with different screen names from the original video creator, surfaced on Friday. The site was accessed in Bangkok via a foreign server.

Like the first video, one of the new postings showed images of the king's face covered with graffiti or juxtaposed with images of feet, considered deeply offensive here.

Another titled "discussing the king" showed a young man saying vaguely: "You'd think, from such a flamboyantly gay man, he'd be more tolerant."

The controversy over the videos has generated heated debate in online discussion forums.

"It's not that we hate free speech. What you are doing is not free speech. It's an act of discrimination against our culture and country," one YouTube user said.

Another responded to the videos by posting a Thai commercial that showed people around the country discussing why they revere the king.

But most responded with vitriol, accusing the creator of the clips of racism or defamation in often vulgar terms.

The decision, however, to block the entire site has drew sharp criticism from media freedom groups, who said it highlighted a growing trend for the military government to censor political expression on the Internet.

"It's another example of how silly and ineffective censorship really is," said CJ Hinke, coordinator of the group Freedom Against Censorship Thailand.

His group, which lobbies for an end to online censorship, says Thailand's government has blocked a total of 45,000 websites.

About 85 per cent of them are believed to be pornographic, but Hinke said the government also bans political websites, including discussions of the insurgency in Thailand's south.

Since the military seized power in a September coup, it has also blocked political websites linked to ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, other media rights groups say.

Thai officials planned to meet later Friday with an association of Internet users to discuss ways of policing the Internet, the communications ministry spokesman said.

"We need cooperation from Internet users to monitor these groups," he added.

A spokeswoman for YouTube said in remarks e-mailed to AFP before the new videos were posted that the company was "disappointed" with Thailand's ban of the site.

"We have asked the government to lift the block, and we look forward to the resumption of service to our Thai users," spokeswoman Julie Supan said.

Thailand's king, almost universally adored by Thais, is the world's longest-reigning monarch, and one of the few who is still protected by tough laws that prohibit any insult against the royal family.

The ban came a week after Thailand jailed a Swiss man for 10 years for insulting the king by vandalising his portraits during a drunken spree.

--AFP 2007-04-06

[george]

Thai YouTube ban worries watchdog

BANGKOK: -- Global media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said Friday it was concerned by Thailand's decision to block the video-sharing website YouTube over clips mocking the nation's king.

The popular website has been blocked in Thailand since Wednesday after the government failed to suppress a video deemed insulting to King Bhumibol Adulyadej, regarded by many Thais as semi-divine.

Since then more videos have cropped up on the site mocking the king but also taking aim at Thailand's strict lese majeste law, which authorities rigorously enforce against anyone deemed to have insulted the monarch.

"The Thai government claims that it censors only pornographic websites or those that 'insult' the monarchy, but in fact it also blocks online publications that criticise last September's coup and websites linked to southern Thailand's separatist groups," Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said.

"We wonder about the legal basis for this censorship, initiated by the government and implemented with diligence by the police," it said.

"The closure or blockage of an online publication is a serious decision that should require a court order."

The watchdog also praised YouTube and its parent company Google for refusing to comply with the government's requests to remove the video.

But the group also accused Google of double standards because of its Chinese-language site, which is censored according to the wishes of China's propaganda chiefs.

"We support their refusal to censor themselves in Thailand but we ask them to harmonise their international policy on censorship," the group said.

"Is it logical to censor pro-democracy websites in China because it is a vital market, and at the same time to oppose the removal of a few videos making fun of the king?"

Major Internet companies including Google announced in January that they were teaming up with rights groups like RSF to develop ways of protecting civil liberties online.

--AFP 2007-04-06

[george]

YOUTUBE

Two more offensive videos put on site

Two more videos mocking His Majesty the King appeared on the YouTube website yesterday, despite its being blocked in Thailand.

BANGKOK: -- The military-installed government has been criticised by international media over the censorship.

The Ministry of Information and Communications Technology said it was in talks with site-owner Google over the case, but negotiations are thought unlikely to yield any result.

Tech-savvy Thai surfers have been able to access the videos through the use of proxy servers, computers outside the country that relay YouTube content back to the original viewer.

"The website will remain blocked until all the video clips are removed," said Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom, the minister of information and communications technology.

Those who posted the videos "want to create trouble. They have bad intentions towards Thailand," he said.

The ministry blocked access to the whole YouTube site on Wednesday after Google refused to remove a video deemed insulting to His Majesty.

Newspapers cannot provide a narrative of the video clips because of lese-majesty laws.

Last week a Swiss man was imprisoned for 10 years for vandalising portraits of the King.

The junta used lese-majesty as an excuse to stage the military coup that toppled Thaksin Shinawatra's government. State prosecutors are considering putting Thaksin on trial over the charge.

The decision to block YouTube has drawn sharp criticism from media-freedom groups, who said it highlighted a growing trend for the military government to censor political expression on the Internet.

"It's another example of how silly and ineffective censorship really is," said CJ Hinke, coordinator of the group Freedom Against Censorship Thailand.

His group, which lobbies for an end to online censorship, says the government has blocked 45,000 websites.

Global media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said yesterday it was concerned by the decision. It questioned the legal basis for censorship "initiated by the government and implemented with diligence by the police" without justice procedure.

"The closure or blockage of an online publication is a serious decision that should require a court order," it said in a statement.

--The Nation 2007-04-07

[george]

NET CENSORSHIP

Update:

YouTube to help block web access to pages insulting King

BANGKOK: -- Video-sharing website YouTube will help Thailand block access to pages that contain clips offensive to His Majesty the King, Information and Communications Technology Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom said yesterday.

The idea came in a phone call with a California-based liaison officer for Google Inc, which owns YouTube.

The website had refused to pull a clip insulting His Majesty the King, which led the government on Thursday to block access to YouTube entirely.

''He said pulling out those clips would not be an effective way to stop the damage, since users could re-post them again,'' said Mr Sitthichai, referring to Google officer Andrew McLaughlin.

''He said a more effective way would be to block certain pages, so they cannot be seen in Thailand,'' he said.

''It will be a few days before we lift the ban on the entire site.''

On Thursday, a 44-second video clip, which showed doctored, abhorrent and grainy pictures of the King, was removed from YouTube by its creator, ''paddidda'', after the government imposed the ban.

Before the clip was removed, Mr Sitthichai accused YouTube of being heartless and culturally insensitive.

Despite the removal of the clip, which has outraged the public and created a lively debate on freedom of speech versus respect for cultural sensitivity, two more clips mocking the monarch appeared on YouTube yesterday. One was posted by ''thaifreespeech''. Within a few hours, the clip had been viewed 13,660 times and attracted more than 200 comments.

Posters urged YouTube to withdraw it from the site, www.youtube.com.

Criticising or offending royalty is a serious crime. Last week, 57-year-old Swiss national Oliver Jufer was sentenced to 10 years in jail for spraying graffiti on pictures of His Majesty the King, a rare prison term for a foreigner.

But the generals who ousted Thaksin Shinawatra in last year's coup have also been accused of using the lese majeste laws to stifle criticism of themselves or their actions. Several websites calling into question the merits of the September 19 coup have been shut down by the government.

-- Reuters 2007-04-07

[george]

YouTube offers to 'educate' Thai authorities about site

BANGKOK: -- YouTube said Saturday it has offered to "educate" Thai authorities about how the popular video-sharing service works in the hope of ending a ban on the site over videos mocking Thailand's revered king.

The company had spoken with Thai communications minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudoom about the ban, which was imposed Wednesday after a user posted a video deemed here as offensive to King Bhumibol Adulyadej, YouTube spokeswoman Julie Supan said.

"Minister Sitthichai reported that his government is inflexible on the blocking of individual objectionable videos, and that the ministry's technical people have difficulty understanding how to block individual videos," she said in an email to AFP.

"While we will not take down videos that do not violate our policies, and will not assist in implementing censorship, we have offered to educate the Thai ministry about YouTube and how it works," she said.

"It's up to the Thailand government to decide whether to block specific videos, but we would rather that than have them block the entire site," she added.

Four more videos have been posted to the site mocking the king, but also taking aim at Thailand's strict lese majeste law, which is rigorously enforced against anyone deemed to have offended the royal family.

The site, accessed from Bangkok through a foreign server, now has seven clips mocking the monarch.

Although the original clip has been removed by the user who created it, the others are similar, often showing pictures of the king next to images of feet -- seen as deeply offensive in Thailand.

The ban on YouTube has sparked a fierce debate over freedom of speech on the Internet, and on Thailand's effort to enforce a law that dates from the time of absolute monarchy more than 75 years ago in the era of a modern global media.

Thailand's king, almost universally adored by Thais, is the world's longest-reigning monarch, and one of the few who is still protected by tough laws that prohibit any insult against the royal family.

The ban came a week after Thailand jailed a Swiss man for 10 years for insulting the king by vandalising his portraits during a drunken spree.

-- AFP 2007-04-07

[george]

Update:

We will not assist in implementing censorship : YouTube

YouTube said Saturday it will not withdraw the controversial videos that do not violate its policies and that not insist in conducting censorship.

"While we will not take down videos that do not violate our policies, and will not assist in implementing censorship, we have offered to educate the Thai ministry about YouTube and how it works, YouTube spokeswoman Julie Supan said.

She said YouTube has offered to "educate" Thai authorities about how the popular video-sharing service works in the hope of ending a ban on the site over videos mocking Thailand's revered king.

The company had spoken with Thai communications minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudoom about the ban, which was imposed Wednesday after a user posted a video deemed here as offensive to King Bhumibol Adulyadej, she said in an email to AFP.

"Minister Sitthichai reported that his government is inflexible on the blocking of individual objectionable videos, and that the ministry's technical people have difficulty understanding how to block individual videos."

-- AFP 2007-04-08

[george]

Action coming against Internet lese majeste offenders

Popular Pantip.com forum blocked

BANGKOK: -- Thailand will take tough action against Internet users posting video clippings deemed to mock royal family members and creating divisiveness in the Kingdom.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom said Sunday he will confer with acting national police chief Pol. Gen. Seripisuth Temiyavej Thursday. The main agenda is possible action against Internet users posting materials, including video shorts, deemed to constitute a lese-majeste offence.

Saturday, the ministry ordered popular Thai-language website and discussion forum Pantip.com, one of Thailand's top 10 websites, to temporarily close its Rajdamnern chatroom after several remarks considered as threatening national security, appeared on the web board, Mr. Sitthichai said.

He said the ICT ministry would close down the website for good if it continued to allow posting similar offensive comments. The ministry had also asked two other operators to delete offending remarks from their websites.

On Wednesday, the ministry blocked the popular video-sharing website YouTube for an indefinite period after a video sequence considered insulting to His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the country's most revered figure, was carried by YouTube.

Mr. Sitthichai has said that the order came after the Ministry's request to its owner, Google Inc, to remove the clip, failed to achieve its removal. Therefore the ministry ordered state-owned CAT Telecom to block the website indefinitely until the clip is removed.

All Internet service providers were instructed to strictly block the popular website, he said.

Criticizing or offending royalty is a serious crime in Thailand. Those found guilty of lese majeste can be jailed for up to 15 years.

--TNA 2007-04-08

[Jai Dee]

Update: Thailand plans to sue YouTube for insulting monarchy

Thailand's Information and Communications Technology Ministry plans to sue YouTube.com for running a video clip deemed offensive to the monarchy, media report said Friday.

ICT Minister Sitthichai Pookyaudom said he will proceed with the court case against the Google-owned website on the grounds that it had lied about not being able to stop a video clip that ran on YouTube last month that ridiculed Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who will celebrate his 80th birthday this year.

Thailand has strict lese majeste laws that make it a criminal offence to mock the royal family.

Sitthichai argued that Google had bowed to China's requests to block certain topics deemed politically sensitive, such as all references to democracy, so he saw no reason why it could not act similarly over Thailand's sensitivities over its revered monarch.

'This YouTube issue is about a private firm in the US trying to bully a small country like Thailand,' Sittichai told the Bangkok Post newspaper.

In response to the offending clip, which was eventually voluntarily removed by the individual who had put it on the YouTube site, the ICT blocked local access to the popular website.

Increasing government censorship of websites was cited as one of the reasons Thailand was downgraded earlier this week to 127th place out of 195 countries on the Freedom House ranking of press freedom.

Last year Thailand ranked 107th in the same listing.

Source: DPA - 04 May 2007