Facebook faces imminent shutdown in Thailand: Report

[webfact]

Facebook faces imminent shutdown in Thailand: Report

 

BANGKOK: Pressure from the Thai government could force the country's Internet Service Provider Association (Tispa) to block access to Facebook, the Bangkok Post reported on Tuesday (May 16). 

 

Citing Facebook's refusal to remove "illicit URLs or posts from its site", Tispa said it "could disconnect the content delivery network (CDN)" the report said.

 

The association and Internet gateway providers (IIG) reportedly sent their request to the managing director of Facebook Thailand via email with a deadline of 10am (local time) on Tuesday to undertake the required actions.

 

Full story: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/facebook-faces-imminent-shutdown-in-thailand-report-8850770

 

-- CHANNEL NEWSASIA 2017-05-16

[rkidlad]

I read it was going to be shut down at 10am immediately unless said pages aren't removed. I guess local time meant Silicon Valley time. Or perhaps the pages were removed? 

[anotheruser]

The junta finally bumped into somebody with more power and influence in Thailand than they have. 100% certain FB doesn't back down and the junta never mentions this again afterwards.

[petedk]

They don't want a revolution on their hands.

What on earth would Thai people do without Facebook?

Talk together???

[anotheruser]

Just now, petedk said:

They don't want a revolution on their hands.

What on earth would Thai people do without Facebook?

Talk together???
 

Funny how people say Thai people. Have you been to other countries lately? It is the same everywhere. 

[AGareth2]

well gone 10 am

have the pages been removed?

Is Twitter next?

[poohy]

Best they dont look at the Daily Mail today then!  

[petedk]

Funny how people say Thai people. Have you been to other countries lately? It is the same everywhere. 

 

Well I guess the majority of users of Facebook in Thailand are Thais.

 

I know other countries are almost as bad, but I am sure I have read several places that Thais are among the heaviest social network users in the world.

 

Anyway, other countries are not threatening to block Facebook so the users there can happily continue.

 

 

 

[webfact]

Despite alarm and government threats, we still have Facebook access today

By Coconuts Bangkok 

 

Photo: Reuters

 

BANGKOK: -- Despite alarmist news stories and social media posts saying that the government could shut off Thailand’s Facebook access at 10am today if the site didn’t remove 131 urls deemed inappropriate by the government, the site is still accessible in Thailand.

 

The Thai Internet Service Provider Association (Tispa) announced that the government was pressuring them to shut off all Thailand access to Facebook with a deadline of as early as 10am Tuesday if the social media giant didn’t remove all the urls dictated by officials, reported Bangkok Post.

 

Apparently, this request was made on Friday afternoon and the social media site seemed to be trying to accommodate the request to remove the urls. Thailand’s criminal court had also signed the request.

 

Full story: https://coconuts.co/bangkok/news/despite-alarm-government-threats-still-facebook-access-today/

 

-- © Copyright Coconuts Bangkok 2017-05-16

[petedk]

Further to my previous comment - if you read the article in the Bangkok Post this morning they claim that 95 % of Internet traffic in Thailand is from Facebook.

I know.... that figure is completely wrong, but that is what is says.

[webfact]

Facebook still accessible in Thailand as government deadline passes

REUTERS
 

FILE PHOTO: The Facebook logo is displayed on the company's website in an illustration photo taken in Bordeaux, France on February 1, 2017. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/File Photo

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - The Facebook social media site was still available in Thailand on Tuesday after concerns arose that authorities would shut it down if Facebook did not take down content deemed threatening to national security.

 

Thailand's telecoms regulator said last week it would give FacebookThailand until Tuesday to take down 131 web addresses with content deemed threatening to security or which violated strict lese majeste laws.

 

The threat prompted a flurry of concern in the Southeast Asian country - one of the most Facebook-active countries in Asia - that Facebook would be blocked.

 

Thailand's Information Communications Technology Ministry temporarily blocked access to Facebook after a May 2014 coup by the military, prompting an outcry from netizens.

 

(Reporting by Amy Sawitta Lefevre and Patpicha Tanakasempipat; Writing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre; Editing by Paul Tait)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-05-16

[tonray]

19 minutes ago, petedk said:

They don't want a revolution on their hands.

What on earth would Thai people do without Facebook?

Talk together???
 

LINE and INstagram to name just a few

[Rhys]

...same government officials handling the boss case of privilege.... 

[pookiki]

Chinese subs, Chinese tanks, Chinese isolationist internet policies.  Will TVF be next?

[canuckamuck]

Now they are poking the bear. 

[mtls2005]

15 minutes ago, pookiki said:

Chinese subs, Chinese tanks, Chinese isolationist internet policies.  Will TVF be next?

Weibo? Or should I say Theibo?

[darksidedog]

I would like to see Facebook shut down here, just to witness the aftermath. I can see Thais running around like headless chickens.

Not going to happen tough. Even this Government isn't that stupid.

[Thechook]

Prayuth is afraid, so very afraid 

[myfriendu]

40 minutes ago, poohy said:

Best they dont look at the Daily Mail today then!  

sight for sore eyes 

[pookiki]

Even if Facebook complies with the junta's request, does the junta think the problem won't resurface? It will be an ongoing problem for which there will be no solution that is satisfactory to the junta other than a total block.

Edited May 16, 2017 by pookiki
forgot something

[LannaGuy]

57 minutes ago, anotheruser said:

The junta finally bumped into somebody with more power and influence in Thailand than they have. 100% certain FB doesn't back down and the junta never mentions this again afterwards.

I really hope you are right... I'm worried FB WILL back down as others have in this PC crazy world we now live in.  Hope FB stand firm, they shut it down and everyone will see that for what it IS.

[anotheruser]

Love the posters who are gleeful that this might irritate Thais. i hope those same people will eat their words when they are "protected" by the single gateway and they lose google, wikipedia, youtube and some of their favorites. 

 

Be careful what you wish for you might find yourself lacking a place online to post smug comments if they implement any of this ever. I would also bet more posters here use FB than would like to admit it. Because slagging off FB is so original and edgy these days.

[Prbkk]

Isn't there a saying along the lines of: never say anything on the net or in an email that you wouldn't want on the front page of the paper. Same applies to Facebook and also to how one presents in public at the risk of being caught on camera. These fights on airplanes are just one example.

[anotheruser]

1 minute ago, Prbkk said:

Isn't there a saying along the lines of: never say anything on the net or in an email that you wouldn't want on the front page of the paper. Same applies to Facebook and also to how one presents in public at the risk of being caught on camera. These fights on airplanes are just one example.

 

It is a little different when you aren't saying anything wrong or immoral yet could be prosecuted for it. Many people say things in real life they are afraid to put online. So it can be actually backwards of what you are saying. 

 

 

[Prbkk]

Just now, anotheruser said:

 

It is a little different when you aren't saying anything wrong or immoral yet could be prosecuted for it. Many people say things in real life they are afraid to put online. So it can be actually backwards of what you are saying. 

 

 

Completely agree. But the spark in today's drama is something else. Specificity is difficult.

[nikmar]

So now I have to post pics of my dinner here!!!

[anotheruser]

2 minutes ago, nikmar said:

So now I have to post pics of my dinner here!!!

There is a food porn thread on this site where you can do exactly that. I know it is hard to believe but food is a subject many people are interested in. If you hadn't noticed there are many books, TV shows  and publications and websites dedicated to food.

 

It's not like people would ever look on tripadvisor to see what people had for dinner when looking for a restaurant.

Edited May 16, 2017 by anotheruser

[jimster]

4 minutes ago, anotheruser said:

Love the posters who are gleeful that this might irritate Thais. i hope those same people will eat their words when they are "protected" by the single gateway and they lose google, wikipedia, youtube and some of their favorites. 

 

Be careful what you wish for you might find yourself lacking a place online to post smug comments if they implement any of this ever. I would also bet more posters here use FB than would like to admit it. Because slagging off FB is so original and edgy these days.

Well I think the commenters were simply referring to the fact that too many Thai people are obsessed with FB and it's kinda getting ridiculous. Whatever one thinks about FB, there's certainly more to life than wasting time on that social media network. I have a FB account but have all but stopped using it, in fact I'm considering shutting down my account and I think my life will be better without it. A small number of Thai friends I have spoken to are the same - even one friend whose business website has more likes than many multinational companies (yes it was hard to believe at first, but it's true) rarely uses her personal FB account these days, preferring Instragram and LINE, while her boyfriend has, like me, essentially stopped using it.

 

However, of course I don't think FB should be banned, except if it was proven to be subversive in nature or a threat to national security, which obviously it isn't.

 

I believe there was massive opposition to the single gateway you describe, I thought this proposal has been abandoned?

[CantSpell]

19 minutes ago, pookiki said:

Even if Facebook complies with the junta's request, does the junta think the problem won't resurface? It will be an ongoing problem for which there will be no solution that is satisfactory to the junta other than a total block.

Thai Junta never learn...

 

Want to get rid of the bees, you don't hit the hive with a stick...

Or be prepared for the bees to come for you....

 

Don't think they have the guts tho... 

[anotheruser]

1 minute ago, jimster said:

Well I think the commenters were simply referring to the fact that too many Thai people are obsessed with FB and it's kinda getting ridiculous. Whatever one thinks about FB, there's certainly more to life than wasting time on that social media network. I have a FB account but have all but stopped using it, in fact I'm considering shutting down my account and I think my life will be better without it. A small number of Thai friends I have spoken to are the same - even one friend whose business website has more likes than many multinational companies (yes it was hard to believe at first, but it's true) rarely uses her personal FB account these days, preferring Instragram and LINE, while her boyfriend has, like me, essentially stopped using it.

 

However, of course I don't think FB should be banned, except if it was proven to be subversive in nature or a threat to national security, which obviously it isn't.

 

I believe there was massive opposition to the single gateway you describe, I thought this proposal has been abandoned?

 

The thing is that it isn't just Thais. The fact people are online on social media talking about Thais and their internet obsession, seems to be an irony lost on many.

 

The single gateway was abandoned as far as I know. However if they do ban FB (which I highly doubt) it is a slippery slope leaning towards putting the gateway in place. this proposal won't work because Thailand can not enforce it's laws on the global community at large. In this sense it would be easier for the junta to make a single gateway.