Fool's Paradise

I was expecting a bigger turnout. Maybe Thais don't care that much about freedom, or maybe they're just unaware of the extent of censorship committed by this government. From this news report, the sense of outrage one would expect seems oddly absent except among members of FACT.

Activists call for cyber-freedom, say 50,000 sites shut
The Nation, June 10, 2007

Free-Internet activists yesterday afternoon gathered in front of Bangkok's Panthip Plaza, the country's largest computer mall, to denounce the growing threat of Internet censorship that they claim now covers some 50,000 websites.

The dozen or so members of Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (Fact) also distributed CDs containing a programme to circumvent the authorities' suppression of websites and also a secret list of the 50,000 that have been blacked out.

The software will give access to any proxy site, said CJ Hinke, a leading member of the group.

"So we're distributing thousands of CDs before the cyberlaw is passed, making it illegal," he said.

Dozens of people came forward to take the free material as well as anti-censorship stickers as Sombat Boonngamanong, another Fact member, explained to curious bystanders what the fuss was all about.

"It is well known that these days the Information Communications and Technology Ministry spends most of its time blocking websites that express political views not to its liking. We all know what the political climate is, though it's the people who should decide what they ought to believe or not believe. People can think for themselves!

"It's natural in any society to have differing views, and cyberspace is a free space of the people. Yet they block sites such as saturdayvoice.com and PTV: does that mean this country doesn't need to have political discussion any more?"

Sombat condemned the ICT Ministry through loudspeakers, as some 50 listeners stood transfixed by the messages conveyed.

"It's good that they're talking about it so we know," said May, a university student who happened to drop by. She refused to give her full name or where she was studying for fear of state reprisals.

"They are blocking people's views. Sometimes information simply disappears," said a woman named Saifon, who works at Panthip.

Signs with slogans including "We Can Think for Ourselves!" and "Internet Does Not Belong to CNS" were held by protesters under the watchful eyes of Special Branch police.

"Denizens of the Internet must together try to free themselves from the lid of dictatorship. Take this software and install it so you can open your eyes and ears. What the ICT Ministry is doing is a violation of human rights, against the right to know, the right to communicate, which are basic rights.

"The banned sites are not a threat to national security but the security of the military junta, and [the ministry's] bureaucrats are now acting like ghosts in cyberspace blocking any site at whim, not adhering to any law or principle," Sombat said, adding that his experience was that in some cases the ICT Ministry simply denied doing it, even though his own cyber-investigation had proved otherwise.

Pravit Rojanaphruk