(Hong Kong, March 28, 2007) The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on Wednesday launched a new webpage to host a petition against censorship of the internet in Thailand.
The petition, by Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT), calls for an end to illegal and unmonitored censorship of websites in Thailand.
“Internet censorship curtails public access to information, academic research, press freedom, business competition, and simple human discourse,” the Bangkok-based freedom of information advocacy group says.
It notes that information has not been made public on censorship of the internet in Thailand since January 2004.
However, estimates are that over 32,500 websites are being blocked by the police and another 13,500 by a government ICT ministry.
According to FACT, eleven per cent of the sites have been categorised as “a threat to national security”.
“There is no Thai law which permits such blocking, all of which is done arbitrarily and in secret,” the page says.
“This is government unrestrained by public scrutiny or common sense,” it adds.
The petition can be viewed and signed at: http://thailand.ahrchk.net/fact_petition.
Basil Fernando, executive director of the AHRC, said that it was important to prevent unmonitored encroachment into the free distribution of material via the internet.
“We are acutely aware of the need to keep the internet open and accessible,” Fernando said.
His Hong Kong-based regional rights group uses the internet daily for its routine advocacy.
“Conventional media are afraid or reluctant to pick up a lot of the pressing human rights incidents and issues that we report upon constantly through the internet, such as torture and forced disappearance,” Fernando said.
“Over time, due to the constant use of email and websites, they join in the debate,” he said.
“But without the preliminary work that we do over the net, it would be very difficult to get these issues publicly discussed,” Fernando noted.
“It is for this reason that we feel strongly about the need to protect this space,” he added.
