Published on June 24, 2005

The Thai Webmaster Association yesterday called the shutdown of two websites highly critical of the government “a violation of the constitutional principle on freedom of speech”.

In a statement, the association also called on the government, and the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Ministry in particular, to stop interfering with the operations of websites which voice their opinions and fair criticism of the government, including both www.thai-insider.com and www.fm9225.com, which have been shut down.

The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (Seapa), a regional press-freedom advocate, yesterday expressed grave concerns over the shutdown of the two websites, which it said if left unchallenged, could lead to a crackdown on websites carrying any information unpalatable to the government.

“In the absence of a specific law to govern cyber information and content, the loosely defined authority given to the ministry could be abused by the administration to quell critical voices in society. “The policing of cyberspace with political motives will have a chilling effect on Thailand’s increasingly vibrant Internet sector, which is a vital tool for the country’s economic and social advancement,” added Seapa.

Meanwhile, according to an online report from daily Kom Chad Luek, Democrat MP Apichart Sakdisetas said during a parliamentary session that the ICT order was tantamount to controlling the media and was certainly beyond its jurisdiction as its main function is to police pornographic websites.

ICT Minister Suwit Khunkitti said the ministry’s cyber-inspection division was duty-bound to police websites in order to protect parties affected by harmful content and to ensure their content did not go against public order.

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