Bangkok, 30 Jan (TAG) — Thailand, which regularly
cracks down on Internet content deemed critical of its revered monarchy, on
Monday became the first country that welcomed social media giant Twitter's
controversial new censorship policy.
The
San Francisco-based microblogging networking website announced last week that
it can now block tweets on a country-by-country basis if legally required,
enraging many users, but Thailand said it supported the move.
"It's
a good idea that Twitter has this policy to take care and prevent its users
from violating the law, because freedom of expression must not violate other
people's rights or the laws in each country," Thai Information and
Communication Technology Minister Anudith Nakornthap said.
"The
ICT ministry will continue to ensure no person or group uses social networks to
violate the law. I agree with Twitter's new policy but we will not be involved
with Twitter's censorship."
The
Thai government has removed tens of thousands of web pages in recent years
because they were considered insulting to the royal family, an extremely
sensitive subject in the politically-divided country.
A
boom in online discussion on social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter
is fuelling political debate and challenging Thailand's long-standing taboo
against openly discussing the royal family.
In
November Thailand asked Facebook to delete more than 10,000 pages of content
containing images or text deemed offensive to the monarchy.
Anyone convicted in Thailand of insulting the king,
queen, heir or regent can been jailed for up to 15 years for each offence, and
rights groups have expressed concern about a series of convictions under the
tough rules.[]
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Thailand Welcomes Twitter Censorship
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January 30, 2012
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