Big Brother is watching the internet in Thailand
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Website and blog owners are subject to censorship and those using the internet in Thailand to view pornography have someone looking over their shoulder. The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) has already blocked 18,390 web pages which can no longer be read by internet users in Thailand.
Of these, 7,690 contain pornographic content, 50 advertise drugs, 10,578 are considered as affecting national security, and 72 offer gambling services. On 3 Sept, the Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Ranongrak Suwanchawee, spoke at a seminar on blocking inappropriate and illegal websites, saying that the Ministry would work more closely with the National Telecommunication Commission (NTC) which has the authority to provide licenses to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and providers of internet gateway service.
The MICT is seeking more cooperation from relevant agencies and business groups to prevent inappropriate content from being uploaded to websites on the internet. Sites it deems to be offensive will be blocked.
The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) says the NTC is authorized to withdraw or suspend the licenses of the ISPs who do not cooperate in blocking inappropriate web pages, including those it deems pornographic or offensive.
Pol Col Suchart Wonganantachai, Deputy Director-General of the DSI and chair of the committee overseeing the blocking of websites, said that currently the most dangerous were gambling websites which were the most easily accessible and caused more long term harm due to loss of money.
There are currently 100 ISPs and 10 internet gateway service providers operating in Thailand licensed by the NTC. So from now on, with court orders to block websites, any ISP who fails to act accordingly will be punished by the NTC, he said. He called for cooperation from all parties, especially the NTC which he said is authorized to revoke or suspend the licenses of internet-related service providers.
Pol Col Suchart said that to deal with inappropriate websites a filtering system must be in place, which required a budget of about 100 million baht. The filtering system is already in place in the US and Israel. The DSI is now developing such a software program. He believes this would improve the effectiveness of filtering content 900 times better than it is filtered now.
‘The MICT alone cannot handle the blocking of the websites. There must be various agencies working together. Inappropriate websites, including those which are subversive to national security or the Nation, Religion and King, quickly spread on the internet.’ the Minister said.
According to Ranongrak, the MICT has set up the Operations Center to monitor the threat of IT crimes, concerned with issues of national security, and the Internet Security Operation Center (ISOC).
The government has established a hotline service whereby complaints on inappropriate content on the internet from the public can be called in by dialing 1212.
The MICT is also seeking cooperation from about 100 companies which provide internet-related services, the Thai Internet Association, the Thai Webmasters Association, the NTC, the police and the DSI to monitor and block inappropriate or illegal websites.
The MICT is seeking more cooperation from relevant agencies and business groups to prevent inappropriate content from being uploaded to websites on the internet. Sites it deems to be offensive will be blocked.
The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) says the NTC is authorized to withdraw or suspend the licenses of the ISPs who do not cooperate in blocking inappropriate web pages, including those it deems pornographic or offensive.
Pol Col Suchart Wonganantachai, Deputy Director-General of the DSI and chair of the committee overseeing the blocking of websites, said that currently the most dangerous were gambling websites which were the most easily accessible and caused more long term harm due to loss of money.
There are currently 100 ISPs and 10 internet gateway service providers operating in Thailand licensed by the NTC. So from now on, with court orders to block websites, any ISP who fails to act accordingly will be punished by the NTC, he said. He called for cooperation from all parties, especially the NTC which he said is authorized to revoke or suspend the licenses of internet-related service providers.
Pol Col Suchart said that to deal with inappropriate websites a filtering system must be in place, which required a budget of about 100 million baht. The filtering system is already in place in the US and Israel. The DSI is now developing such a software program. He believes this would improve the effectiveness of filtering content 900 times better than it is filtered now.
‘The MICT alone cannot handle the blocking of the websites. There must be various agencies working together. Inappropriate websites, including those which are subversive to national security or the Nation, Religion and King, quickly spread on the internet.’ the Minister said.
According to Ranongrak, the MICT has set up the Operations Center to monitor the threat of IT crimes, concerned with issues of national security, and the Internet Security Operation Center (ISOC).
The government has established a hotline service whereby complaints on inappropriate content on the internet from the public can be called in by dialing 1212.
The MICT is also seeking cooperation from about 100 companies which provide internet-related services, the Thai Internet Association, the Thai Webmasters Association, the NTC, the police and the DSI to monitor and block inappropriate or illegal websites.