WikiLeaks says available in Thailand despite ban grounds

Thai government restricted access to site on security

PTI | August 20, 2010



WikiLeaks' information is still available to Internet users in Thailand, despite moves by the authorities in Bangkok to cut it off, the whistleblower website said.

A Thai official on Wednesday said the government had used emergency powers to restrict access to the site on security grounds.

The order came from the government unit set up to oversee the response to political unrest that rocked the nation's capital earlier this year, said a spokeswoman at the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

But in a posting on the micro blogging site Twitter, @wikileaks left a link to a website calling itself ThaiLeaks (http://thaileaks.info) that appeared to provide the same information as that available on the Thailand section of the WikiLeaks website.

An English language statement at the top of the ThaiLeaks page said the blocking by authorities meant Thai Internet users were "not allowed to take part in the current netbased movement of freedom."

"This is not acceptable, anywhere in the world.

Therefore we make all Thai-related content from the Wikileaks website available for direct download."

The website added: "This is sensitive material, all quoted from Wikileaks. Please note -- This is not about disrespecting the Thai State or the Royal family. It is about making a statement for the freedom of information."

Links on the website included one to a home video purportedly of Thailand's crown prince and princess at a private party.

Thailand made headlines around the world in 2007 when it blocked the popular video-sharing website YouTube after material appeared mocking its revered King Bhumibol.

The country has removed tens of thousands of web pages from the Internet in recent years, mainly for insulting the monarchy, a crime punishable by up to 15 years in jail.

A special cyber crime agency has also been set up to stamp out online criticism of the royal family.

Critics have complained that the authorities have responded to the recent anti-government demonstrations by widening the net to include political opponents.

Emergency rule, enshrined in Thai law since 2005, was imposed across many parts of Thailand during two months of "Red Shirt" protests in Bangkok from mid-March that left 91 people dead, ending with a bloody army crackdown.

Authorities have used the decree, which remains in place in Bangkok and several other areas, to arrest hundreds of suspects and silence anti-government media.

The ICT said it has blocked 1,340 websites on security grounds since emergency rule began in April.

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