Thread: Thai authorities to build state-owned internet gateway for more efficient censorship

Thai authorities to build state-owned internet gateway for more efficient censorship
Wed, 28/05/2014

The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) has blocked 219 websites which are deemed threats to “national security” according to an order of the military junta and it will ask Facebook, YouTube and Line, a chat application, to ban some user accounts which disseminate “illegal” content, Surachai Srisakam, Permanent Secretary of the MICT, told media on Tuesday.

The MICT is also drafting a plan to build a national internet gateway so that censorship measures can be applied by the state more efficiently. The plan is to make CAT and TOT, both state-owned telecommunication companies, responsible for the gateway. The plan will be completed within one to two months, he added.

Moreover, he said the Ministry has applied stricter measures to “regulate” the internet and social networks. Two working groups have been set up to carry out this task.

The first group is assigned to monitor and analyse information on the internet, especially social media. If the group detects violations of the military junta’s orders, it will block dissemination of that information. The Intelligence Group of the police’s Technology Crime Suppression Division and the Immigration Police are responsible for this task.

The second working group oversees investigation and crime suppression. It has the authority to investigate and arrest people who disseminate “illegal information.” Representatives from the Army will work alongside the police from the Technology Crime Suppression Division.

prachatai.com

What took them so long...??

Originally Posted by Mid

The MICT is also drafting a plan to build a national internet gateway so that censorship measures can be applied by the state more efficiently. The plan is to make CAT and TOT, both state-owned telecommunication companies, responsible for the gateway. The plan will be completed within one to two months, he added.



.....The Intelligence Group of the police’s Technology Crime Suppression Division and the Immigration Police are responsible for this task.

Immigration Police. Ain't that sweet.



This one-gateway plan ain't nothing new. Years ago i wuz listening to Mark ze democrat trying to sell this plan. In the name of democracy, of course.

Do cloaks get around this stuff?

Originally Posted by FlyFree

Originally Posted by Mid

The MICT is also drafting a plan to build a national internet gateway so that censorship measures can be applied by the state more efficiently. The plan is to make CAT and TOT, both state-owned telecommunication companies, responsible for the gateway. The plan will be completed within one to two months, he added.



.....The Intelligence Group of the police’s Technology Crime Suppression Division and the Immigration Police are responsible for this task.

Immigration Police. Ain't that sweet.



This one-gateway plan ain't nothing new. Years ago i wuz listening to Mark ze democrat trying to sell this plan. In the name of democracy, of course.

The Thai form of democracy is special.

I was under the impression that true has been running bluecoat for several years

Some countries have foreign affair hearings and public consultations. State censorship of news and social media is often a characteristic of the arguments used to justify sanctions and suspension of preferred trading status. I wonder if the people promoting state censorship in Thailand, have considered the ramifications?

Originally Posted by zygote1

I wonder if the people promoting state censorship in Thailand, have considered the ramifications?

I like your sense of humour.

Originally Posted by zygote1

Some countries have foreign affair hearings and public consultations. State censorship of news and social media is often a characteristic of the arguments used to justify sanctions and suspension of preferred trading status. I wonder if the people promoting state censorship in Thailand, have considered the ramifications?

Considering such future consequences is not their specialty.
They're Thai....

2Bangkok ‏@2Bangkok 6h

http://Prachatai.com is blocked #thaicoup pic.twitter.com/NPVCOVU4PL

It's black and white isn't it? You basically allow Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, or you're like China, which has its own versions of just about everything.

Originally Posted by Mid

2Bangkok ‏@2Bangkok 6h

http://Prachatai.com is blocked #thaicoup pic.twitter.com/NPVCOVU4PL

Seen that quite a bit recently on a few favourite sites. Cnuts.

In war, the first casualty is truth.

Sometimes, don't you just get tired of it all?

Budleigh Salterton never looked more attractive.

Thailand’s coup spreads from streets to the web, 219 sites blocked so far May 29, 2014at 4:40 pmby Saiyai Sakawee

In the first few days of Thailand’s military coup, the country’s MICT shut down over 100 websites deemed a threat to the country’s stability. As of yesterday, the number of sites closed has gone up to 219 sites. In addition, authorities have warned social media users that their activities are being watched and personal content could be deemed illegal if it’s provoking. See: Flipboard, “not worried about censorship,” doubles down on China Yesterday, Facebook was inaccessible in Thailand for about an hour. People took to Twitter to speculate that the junta had ordered a block on Facebook. Reuters later reported that Surachai Srisaracam, permanent secretary of the MICT, confirmed the social network had been blocked to stop the spread of online criticism of the military. Thai news site Springnews also published a similar report but it later took the article down. Later, the MICT issued an official announcement saying that it didn’t block Facebook and that it was a web gateway problem. The problem occured with the connection through Singapore, the department claimed – although Facebook worked fine in Singapore during the hour in which it appeared blocked in Thailand. With that explanation, Thailand’s netizens took to Blognone and other online communities to discuss whether it’s possible for a specific site to go down and that all gateways and ISPs would fail at the same time for just that one site. The mystery remains unsolved. Anyhow, whether Facebook was down due to a gateway issue or a deliberate blockage, it’s important to note that Thai authorities plan to build a state-run internet gateway. This is so that censorship in Thailand can be done more efficiently. This kind of gateway is already operated by the Vietnamese government. That has provoked debate on Reddit, where it’s interesting to see that many Thai people are not surpirsed by the prospect of such web censorship and plan to use a VPN to circumvent it. We don’t know yet what web censorship will look like in Thailand, either later this year or anytime this decade. However, there are people who support this and believe that for the country to be stable, censorship is needed. Thailand’s cyber coup has just started.

Read more: Thailand’s coup spreads from streets to the web, 219 sites blocked so far Thailand

And so the police state goes.......

The only way Thaksin doesn't win the next election, whenever that may be, is if he is dead or the nice gentlemen in uniform decide Thailand is more viable as a one-party state. And we know the consequences of that.

or the junta make it impossible for PT to ever win again

Does it really matter who the rulers are?
They're all one and the same....

Yet, no one seems to comprehend this.
The grand Thai theatre being displayed.

That's TD fecked then...

shame you only ever wish to try to be the know it all on a constant basis though never seem to contribute anything of substance to threads.

Originally Posted by Rural Surin

Does it really matter who the rulers are?
They're all one and the same....

Yet, no one seems to comprehend this.
The grand Thai theatre being displayed.

Originally Posted by Yasojack

shame you only ever wish to try to be the know it all on a constant basis though never seem to contribute anything of substance to threads.

Originally Posted by Rural Surin

Does it really matter who the rulers are?
They're all one and the same....

Yet, no one seems to comprehend this.
The grand Thai theatre being displayed.

Just a keen observation, less a harsh judgment, Jacky...
Understanding the never changing cycles of contemporary Thai history [which some here could be schooled on tremendously] and more important comprehending the Thai mindset and social order.

Embarrassing to absorb the faux knowledge and connections that some insist upon.

Sure many of us are aware though you do wish to keep telling us.

Originally Posted by Rural Surin

Understanding the never changing cycles of contemporary Thai history [which some here could be schooled on tremendously] and more important comprehending the Thai mindset and social order.
.

All things change. Rates vary, but ALL things change.

The 'we're gonna have blood in the streets tomorrow' crowd is no more likely to be wrong than the ' never-changing Thai culture/history' crowd.

The trick is to spot seminal moments. Both the above are unlikely to.

So that's you out of it.

Originally Posted by Rural Surin

Thai mindset and social disorder.

Fixed that fer ya..