[FACT comments: Okay, pay attention here. They’re claiming to block 190 websites, 60% of which are “seditious” (incidentally, sedition means treason). That means, according to my calculator, that 114 websites host treasonable content. So why is govt blocking the remaining 76—just for target practice?!?
CRES goes on to say that MICT has been blocking 500 websites per day. After all, “it takes less than 10 minutes”! That’s 83½ man-hours per day at taxpayer expence to block the Internet! More than 10 full-time civil servants working eight hours a day to block the Web. And we bet they work at night, too!
With CRES we have one more busybody blocking our Internet. Royal Thai Police, Ministry of Culture, Royal Thai Army, National Defence College, Ministry of ICT are some of the other culprits against free expression and we’d bet there are more. Working flat-out through the holidays using the martial law so they don’t need court orders. Pitiful, really…]
190 websites ordered closed by the CRES
Prachatai: April 16, 2010
http://www.prachatai.org/english/node/1745
The Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation has ordered the MICT to close 190 websites, of which over 60% are claimed to be politically seditious. Since the red shirt protests started, the MICT has ordered the blocking of about 500 URLs per day on average.
On 16 April, a source at the CRES said that the CRES had ordered the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology to close 190 seditious websites, most of which broadcast the red shirts’ protests.
According to the source, officials are keeping a close watch, especially over camfrogs broadcasting the protests which provoke and incite violence and divisiveness. It takes less than 10 minutes to block an URL. However, there have been some hurdles with small ISPs, because during Songkran they did not have staff to do 24 hour a day monitoring.
About 7-8 URLs of the YouTube website where seditious clips were posted have been ordered closed. Some websites have continued by changing their domain names from .com to .net [Prachatai, for example]. The 190 websites were ordered closed only temporarily, and when the situation returns to normal, they can go back online. They will be notified by email, the source said.
The MICT has received complaints to close about 400-500 URLs a day, of which 60% were politically seditious, with the rest being websites offensive to the monarchy, containing pornography, or offering gambling and drugs.
The source confirmed PM’s Office Minister Sathit Wongnongtoey previous statement that the MICT could order the closure of websites directly, because it was authorized under the State of Emergency.
Those who wish to inform on such seditious websites can call 1212 and 1555, the CRES public relations centre.
Source:
กอฉ. เชือดแล้ว 190 เว็บฯปลุกระดม
Thai Rath: April 16, 2010
http://www.thairath.co.th/content/tech/77134
กอฉ. เอาจริงสั่งกระทรวงไอซีทีปิดเว็บไซต์แล้วจำนวน 190 เว็บ ชี้เป็นเว็บปลุกระดมทางการเมืองกว่า 60% เผยหลังเกิดสถานการณ์ชุมนุมเสื้อแดง ไอซีทีโทรแจ้งให้ปิดเฉลี่ย 500 เว็บต่อวัน…
เมื่อวันที่ 16 เม.ย. แหล่งข่าวจากกองอำนวยการแก้ไขสถานการณ์ฉุกเฉิน (กอฉ.) เปิดเผยว่า หลังจากเกิดสถานการณ์การชุมนุมของกลุ่มแนวร่วมประชาธิปไตยต่อต้านเผด็จการแห่งชาติ ( นปช.) หรือกลุ่มเสื้อแดง ล่าสุด รัฐบาลโดยกองอำนวยการแก้ไขสถานการณ์ฉุกเฉิน (กอฉ.) ได้มีคำสั่งให้กระทรวงเทคโนโลยีสารสนเทศและการสื่อสาร (ไอซีที) ปิดเว็บไซต์ที่เข้าข่ายปลุกระดมแล้วจำนวน 190 เว็บไซต์ โดยส่วนใหญ่เป็นลักษณะการถ่ายทอดสดการชุมนุมของกลุ่มเสื้อแดง ที่เข้าข่ายยั่วยุ และปลุกระดมให้เกิดความแตกแยกทางการเมือง
แหล่งข่าวระบุว่า ขณะนี้เจ้าหน้าที่ที่มีหน้าที่รับผิดชอบอยู่ระหว่างการเฝ้าจับตาอย่างใกล้ชิด โดยเฉพาะ แคมฟรอก ที่ถ่ายทอดสดการชุมนุม ก่อให้เกิดความรุนแรง ยั่วยุ และปลุกระดมให้เกิดความแตกแยก โดยใช้ระยะเวลาดำเนินการไม่เกิน 10 นาที ก็สามารถสั่งปิด URL ได้แล้ว สำหรับ ISP รายเล็ก ยังเป็นอุปสรรคอยู่ เพราะช่วงเทศกาลสงกรานต์ไม่มีคนมอนิเตอร์ตลอด 24 ชั่วโมง
นอกจากนี้ เว็บไซต์ยูทูป ที่เปิดคลิปที่เข้าข่ายการปลุกระดม และก่อให้เกิดความรุนแรง ก็สั่งปิดไปแล้วกว่า 7-8 URL ทั้งนี้ เจ้าของเว็บไซต์บางรายก็มีการร้องเรียนมาถึงกรณีการปิดเว็บโดยเจ้าหน้าที่ได้พยายามติดต่อกลับไปแต่ไม่สามารถติดต่อได้ และบางเว็บก็เปลี่ยนจากดอทคอม (.com) เป็นดอทเน็ต (.net) แทนเพื่อให้เปิดใช้งานได้ อย่างไรก็ตาม เว็บที่สั่งปิดจำนวน 190 เว็บนั้น เป็นเพียงการสั่งปิดชั่วคราว หลังจากสถานการณ์การชุมนุมคลี่คลาย และกลับเข้าสู่ภาวะปกติก็จะเปิดให้บริการตามเดิม โดยจะแจ้งผ่านอีเมล์อีกครั้ง
ทั้งนี้ ช่วงที่เกิดสถานการณ์การชุมนุมกระทรวงไอซีที ได้รับร้องเรียนให้ปิดเว็บไซต์เฉลี่ยวันละ 400-500 เว็บ คิดเป็นเว็บปลุกระดมทางการเมือง 60% และเว็บหมิ่นสถาบันพระมหากษัตริย์ เว็บลามก เว็บพนัน เว็บยาเสพติด 40% ส่วนกรณีที่นายสาทิตย์ วงศ์หนองเตย รัฐมนตรีประจำสำนักนายกรัฐมนตรี ระบุว่ากระทรวงไอซีที สามารถดำเนินการสั่งปิดเว็บไซต์ได้โดยตรงนั้น แหล่งข่าวชี้แจงว่า สามารถทำได้ เพราะในช่วงสถานการณ์การชุมนุมกฎหมายของไอซีทีได้อยู่ภายใต้ กอฉ.แล้ว ทั้งนี้ ผู้ที่พบเห็นเว็บไซต์ยั่วยุ ปลุกระดม และก่อให้เกิดความแตกแยกทางการเมือง สามารถแจ้งได้ที่ 1212 และศูนย์ประชาสัมพันธ์ กอฉ. 1555.
[FACT comments: It is rather unlikely that the eminent cryptoanalyst and security expert wrote this about Thailand. Nonetheless, it is precisely what is happening right here, right now, and practically everywhere else, too.
Frightful Fables and Fear-Mongering Fairytales
Bruce Schneier
Crypto-Gram: April 15, 2010
http://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram.html
Excerpt:
Once upon a time, men and women throughout the land lived in fear. This caused them to do foolish things that made them feel better temporarily, but didn’t make them any safer.
Gradually, some people became less fearful, and less tolerant of the foolish things they were told to submit to. The lords who ruled the land tried to revive the fear, but with less and less success.
Sensible men and women from all over the land were peering behind the curtain, and seeing that the emperor had no clothes.
Thus it came to pass that the lords decided to appeal to the children. If the children could be made more fearful, then their fathers and mothers might also become more fearful, and the lords would remain lords, and all would be right with the order of
things.
The children would grow up in fear, and thus become accustomed to doing what the lords said, further allowing the lords to remain lords. But to do this, the lords realized they needed Frightful Fables and Fear-Mongering Fairytales to tell the children at bedtime.
[FACT comments: Soldiers everywhere are just poor suckers, too young to have any sense, whether drafted or recruited. Exploited as cannon fodder by the fatcats.]
A Soldier’s Story
Prachatai: April 12, 2010
http://www.prachatai.org/english/node/1732
This account of events around Ratchadamnoen and Khao San on the night of 10 April was given by a conscript in a phone call to his family. Soldiers have been told not to communicate with the media so this report must remain anonymous.
Approximately 50 draftees who had not finished basic training were ordered to put on riot gear at dusk on Saturday and were driven to the Ratchadamnoen area. We were not told in advance where we were going or what our objective was. We were equipped with rubber bullets but no gas masks. We had previously received some training in riot control and had manned checkpoints, but in general discipline and leadership required improvement and we were inexperienced.
We quickly found ourselves in a confused fight with the red shirts. We were instructed to fire rubber bullets at the legs of protestors, but were facing bricks, sticks and gunfire. Tear gas was making it difficult to see what was going on. It wasn’t like a video game. There were other units, some from other services, but we saw no coordination among them.
The non-commissioned officer in charge of us was injured and taken away and no one took over. Many of the draftees ran for safety, some leaving behind weapons and other equipment. I was helping to pull wounded comrades out of danger. There were some bad injuries and we thought some people were probably dead. It was a terrifying situation.
At one point I was overcome with tear gas. Red shirts took off my helmet and I never saw it again. They washed the tear gas off my face. I and 2 friends were now isolated and did not know where to go. We tried staying put but it got too dangerous, so we started moving about and got lost. After 3 hours, we met a policeman in the middle of the night who told us where our unit was.
We got about 3 hours sleep and were transported back to camp the following afternoon. Of the 50 who had gone out, only about 20 remained. Some must be in hospital with injuries, and probably many just ran for their lives.
We have decided, among the draftees, that we will not go out on missions like this. The officers say this too. We have been told by the commanding officer that we will not be asked to go out again.
MICT on blocking spree-Bangkok Post
17-04-10
Quality over quantity
- Bangkok Post Database: April 14, 2010
- http://www.bangkokpost.com/tech/techscoop/36069/quality-over-quantity
Through the mobile street protests and the emergency rule, the Information and Communication Technology Ministry trudged on; permanent secretary Sue Lor-uthai held a press conference to brag that he had ordered about 10,000 websites to be blocked from the sensitive eyes of the Thai public between March 14, when the red-shirt street theatre opened, and the week before Songkran; he had another 700 awaiting blocks as soon as the courts approve; by contrast, security czar and the official censor of the 2010 Emergency Decree, Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, only claimed credit for blocking or closing down 36 websites; the difference between the two numbers could not immediately be explained, but Mr Suthep was dealing with quality over quantity, successfully closing down Prachatai.com to the entire world, for example.
Senior editor Chiranuch Premchaiporn of Prachatai.com was re-arrested; her first arrest, last year, was for violating the Computer Crimes Act by not removing a reader’s comment about the high institution quickly enough; this year’s arrest is for exactly the same incident, but this time the added charge is lese majeste; Ms Chiranuch faces 50 years in prison, and her case is going to be speeded up, apparently as an example. Shortly after the arrest of Prachatai.com editor Chiranuch Premchaiporn on lese majeste charges, police detained Tantawut Taweewarodomkul, 38, of Pathum Thani province; he was charged with lese majeste over a video on the site NorPorChorUSA.com, based in the United States; at the same time, he was charged with violating the Computer Crimes Act, basically in the same manner as Ms Chiranuch; the video ”Thailand’s Way Out” allegedly libels the high institution; the website remains available worldwide, although of course it is blocked in Thailand.
Censorship sparked the most violent incident of the red shirt’s three-week campaign in Bangkok; Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban ordered that all broadcasts by People TV cease immediately, and instructed the executives at satellite operator Thaicom of Shingapore to do the deed; they did, while complaining it would open the country’s only satellite operator to foreign criticism and lawsuits for lack of signal to five other stations renting broadcast time; but cutting the TV broadcast enraged the red shirts, given that the government’s own NBT had totally ignored their protests, not to mention that the yellow shirts’ ASTV remained on the air; red shirt mobs attacked the Thaicom compound in Nonthaburi, and even briefly put the station back on the air before security forces regained the initiative and took it down again.
Even more censorship-PPT
17-04-10
Even more censorship
Political Prisoners in Thailand: April 13, 2010
http://thaipoliticalprisoners.wordpress.com/2010/04/13/even-more-censorship/
Thanks to a reader for pointing out two recent stories on continuing and perhaps intensifying internet censorship. The first report is from NNT (10 April 2010) and states: “The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology has now been strictly curbing all defamatory internet contents that likely pose serious threat to national security with an aim of preventing further division in the society.” MICT’s Permanent Secretary for Information and Communication Technology Sue Loruthai said that “the Ministry had been instructed to take a close watch and curb all allegedly defamatory internet content…”.
It adds that MICT has warned internet users to “use the internet in the right way or with appropriate purpose and avoid disseminating information that could create misunderstanding or instigate violent actions among the public. Also, all popular websites and social networks such as facebook, twitter, hi5 and my space will be under thorough watch.” It warned that those it considered “violators” would be prosecuted “law with no compromise.”
The second report, also from NNT (11 April 2010) states: “The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) has daily detected over 300 websites containing radical political views that instigated violent actions among the public.” MICT officials are said to be maintaining a “close watch online…”. This number is apparently the highest MICT has detected.
In censoring Web, Thailand could worsen crisis
Danny O’Brien
Committee to Protect Journalists: April 12, 2010
http://cpj.org/blog/2010/04/in-censoring-web-thailand-could-worsen-crisis.php
As part of its declaration of emergency, the Thai government last week radically broadened existing Internet censorship powers to prohibit a wide range of speech, including independent commentary and newsgathering. In doing so, it has exacerbated an already fragile political situation and may have permanently weakened Thailand’s constitutional protections for press freedom.
Thai media have always played a key role in the ongoing battle between the supporters of the exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and those of the current premier, Abhisit Vejjajiva. While Abhisit has access to the state media, Thaksin communicates with his supporters via statements covered by sympathetic satellite TV and relayed through community radio stations. As more Thai citizens have gained access to the Internet (16.1 million, or nearly a quarter of the population had access in 2009, according to the International Telecommunications Union), the debate over the country’s governance has spilled onto the Web and social networking sites. Thaksin tweets to his fans; the prime minister’s spokesperson Satit Wonghnongtaey gives the government line on his Twitter account. And everywhere on the Thai Net, writers and commenters have freely discussed the escalating tensions.
But the government has cracked down on this free discussion and analysis. Last week, bypassing even Thailand’s slight legal protections against abuse of its Internet filters, Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsaban used emergency powers to directly block 37 Web addresses. Most were sites closely affiliated with the opposition “Red Shirt” movement, but also named on the black list were the popular news and discussion site Prachatai and the online edition and forums of Fah Diew Kan magazine. Both claim to be independent news sites, and are used for unaffiliated political discussion.
Thailand’s existing online censorship system is supposedly moderated by court oversight. The censor, the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT), filters the Internet by seeking court orders against sites, according to the country’s Computer Crime Act. On the basis of the court orders, MICT then instructs local Internet service providers (ISPs) to block those sites from Thai users.
In common with many national Internet censorship systems, however, the MICT black list is secret. The court orders are not public, there is no obvious system of appeal, and there is no possibility of public supervision. Since the military coup four years ago, critics allege that MICT’s censorship has widened beyond the pornographic and gambling sites it has given as its primary targets. Leaked MICT black lists corroborate that opposition sites are targeted by the censor, and during states of emergency, such as the current unrest and during last April’s uprising, the blocking is widened even further.
One day after the April 8 declaration of martial law, MICT held a press conference at which it announced 9,000 to 10,000 new site blocks since the Red Shirt protests began, with an intention to block 700 more. CJ Hinke, organizer of local online rights group Freedom Against Censorship Thailand, believes that MICT will use the state of emergency to block these sites without legal oversight. “Even if they don’t implement blocking during martial law (which I think is their intent),” he tells CPJ, “the public is much less likely to complain against the government in a state of emergency. The timing was both practical—no court order[s] necessary—and psychological.”
The new political role for Thailand’s Internet censors was reinforced by a leaked direct order from the deputy prime minister dated April 8, requiring 37 sites to be shut down immediately. Prachatai, a news site whose name means “Free People”, and WeAreAllHuman, the Web forum of Same Sky Books, publisher of the left-leaning news magazine Fah Diew Kan, were also banned. It remains unclear why these two unaffiliated sources were targeted by the order. Hinke believes the deputy prime minister may be motivated by discussions on the sites that have criticized his actions in office.
Thai authorities have long targeted site owners as responsible for the content of forum commenters on sites. The manager of Prachatai, Chiranuch Premchaiporn, was recently charged with offenses under Thailand’s Computer Crimes Act, a law whose wording implies that Internet hosts are criminally responsible for the speech of others using their systems. The charges pointed to posts on Prachatai that may have violated Thailand’s strict laws on lese majeste (or criticizing the monarchy). Neutral news sites appear to have been blocked out of fear that their readers will comment and share knowledge about the current protests.
The plans so far appear to have backfired for the Thai government. Its order closing the Red Shirt-affiliated satellite TV station, People Television, became a flash point for confrontation and violence. The deaths of Thais and the fatal shooting of a Reuters photographer at later protests have dominated the domestic and international coverage of the situation. The Internet blocking has proved ineffective at completely preventing Thais from relaying and discussing the censorship and fatalities.
While the government lists Web addresses for ISPs to prohibit, information on many Web pages can be viewed via more than one address—and creating a new address for an existing page is relatively easy. So, while new prohibitions ban a single Twitter account at http://twitter.com/uddtoday, ISPs have not been blocking http://mobile.twitter.com/uddtoday , which carries the same content, optimized by Twitter for mobile phones, but viewable by any Web browser. Readers of Prachatai were able to get around the ban on prachatai.com by visiting the quickly-organized www.prachataiboard.com, www.prachatai.org and www.prachatai.net, and by joining a Prachatai Facebook page.
By blocking these neutral sites, the prime minister may be losing the sympathy of the many Thais who “wear no shirt” (neither the yellow of the current administration’s supporters nor the red of the opposition), people who use the sites to communicate about the deteriorating situation. Supinya Klangnarong, of Thailand’s digital rights advocacy organization, Thai Netizen Network, notes that the censorship frustrates and angers more than it calms the situation. “It can be a frightening thing for both the protesters and the general public not to have access to reliable information,” she tells the Asia Media Forum.
[FACT comments: The new URLs only remained unblocked for a few days. For unexplained technical reasons, these cannot be reached using anonymous proxies but only by VPN.]
CONTROVERSIAL WEBSITE
Prachatai.com re-emerges at new address
Pravit Rojanaphruk
The Nation: April 10, 2010
In defiance of state censorship under the emergency decree, prachatai.com online newspaper fought back and succeeded in restoring its website content on a new address at prachatai.net yesterday.
Pinpaka Ngamsom, deputy editor of prachatai.com, said the 10-person staff regarded the censorship as “illegitimate” and was not afraid of “breaking” the law.
“The law is illegitimate and many people are opposing it as I speak. There should be diverse [political] views,” she said, adding that total censorship on the Internet was futile and the current censorship would only turn more people into joining the red-shirt camp.
“At the same time, [yellow-shirt] ASTV also incites [hatred] and why is there nothing done about it?”
The new online URL is not stable, however, and prachatai.com employees continue to work from safe locations away from their office.
They have posted some of their content on Facebook, which had attracted 1,800 friends as of yesterday evening.
“We shall continue to carry out our duties,” said the deputy editor of Thailand’s independent online newspaper – regarded by the government as pro-red shirts – from an undisclosed location.
High-velocity rounds kill 9
- King-Oua Laohong and Mongkol Bangprapa
- Bangkok Post: April 13, 2010
- http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/36013/high-velocity-rounds-kill-9
Nine people killed during Saturday’s clashes suffered gruesome wounds from high-velocity bullets, autopsies at the Police General Hospital show.
The results were revealed yesterday after doctors finished examining 11 bodies, including that of Japanese journalist Hiro Muramoto. Nine died from gunshot wounds while one died of respiratory failure, said Pol Lt Gen Jongjait Aowjenpong, a member of the forensics team investigating the deaths.
He would not release details of the examination of Muramoto, 43, who worked for the Thomson Reuters news agency, on the request of his family and the Japanese government. His body will be taken back to Japan today.
The gunshot victims were hit in the head and chest. Some were shot at a distance of less than one metre, Pol Lt Gen Jongjait said.
A total of 21 people – 17 civilians and four soldiers – were killed in Saturday’s clashes between security forces and red shirt protesters.
Among the dead are a law student from Sripatum University and an engineering graduate from Mahanakorn University of Technology.
“So it’s not correct to say the red shirt protesters are only grass-roots people,” said Chanwut Yothakul, a friend of Yutthana Thongcharoenpolporn, 23, who recently graduated from MUT.
The mother of Sripatum University student Ampon Tatiyarat, 26, said her son joined the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship rally when the protesters gathered at Ratchaprasong.
On his first day, “he told me the red shirts shared the same ideology with him”, she said.
Other relatives mourned the deaths of their loved ones. The brother-in-law of Tossachai Mekngamfa, 44, said his death would affect his 12-year-old son who needs support for further study.
Yesterday, UDD co-leader Suporn Atthawong led a procession of vehicles carrying two corpses and empty coffins to denounce the violent crackdown on rally goers on Saturday.
The group earlier planned to proceed to the prime minister’s house at Soi Sukhumvit 31, but later changed the route and went to Phetchaburi, Rama IV, Ramkhamhaeng and Lat Phrao roads before stopping at Victory Monument.
“Why did Abhisit order [soldiers] to kill people?” Mr Suporn asked as he watched the procession.
A group of red shirts yesterday went to the premier’s house which is heavily guarded by police. The protesters acted in a friendly manner with the police.
Army settles old scores-PPT
17-04-10
An army at war internally?
Political Prisoners in Thailand: April 13, 2010
http://thaipoliticalprisoners.wordpress.com/2010/04/13/an-army-at-war-internally/
In another post, about the queen and prince attending the funeral of Colonel Romklao Thuwatham, killed on Saturday, we have included some information about him.
We have been intrigued as to why this one death amongst the 21 (so far) has seemed so important for the yellow-shirted establishment. Its all over the blogs and the ASTV crowd seem transfixed. The claim is that he was hunted down and maybe by fellow officers. At the same time, the claim that he was targeted by laser beam and then taken out with a grenade seems “unprofessional.” Not that we have experience in these things, but PPT thinks that targeting someone for assassination would usually result in a killer bullet rather than a sloppy grenade.
But much is murky in all of this. However, yellow-shirted journalist Avudh Panananda at The Nation (12 April 2010) has some interesting comments. He says: “What happened on Rajdamnoen Avenue on Saturday was not a botched anti-riot operation nor a lynching mob gone berserk. It was a head-on skirmish between two well-trained armed forces – one in fatigues and another in black. The red shirts were just props in the battlefield.” This is more of the disingenuous ranting about the poor outgunned security forces. As far as we can tell from looking at the videos and photos, there have only been 4-8 people carrying war weapons who were amongst the red shirts; many of the images seem to be of the same people. And, as we have said several times, the injury and death count is very much dominated by civilians. Avudh has lost all ideas of proportionality that makes it horse manure to write of “two well-trained armed forces.”
He goes on to more interesting things: “The death of Colonel Romklao “Pao” Thuwatham of the 2nd Infantry Division, is expected to reverberate through the Army ranks. It is a century-old tradition that graduates from Chula-chomklao Royal Military Academy come from the same feeding bowl, and hence will not kill their own kind under any circumstances. In the failed coup of 1977, General Chalard Hiransiri broke the sacred code by fatally shooting General Arun Thawathasin. Chalard was subsequently executed by a firing squad. Chavalit and top generals backing the red shirts should know that Army commanders will not allow Romklao to die in vain. Justice must be served one way or another.”
This is a threat, passed on by a “journalist”, suggesting that red shirt supporters in the army can expect death. Interesting indeed. It does demonstrate how deeply divided the military must now be that they will now consider internal score-settling.
