Reporters Without Borders will celebrate World Day Against Cyber Censorship on 12 March. This event is intended to rally everyone in support of a single Internet that is unrestricted and accessible to all. It is also meant to draw attention to the fact that, by creating new spaces for exchanging ideas and information, the Internet is a force for freedom. However, more and more governments have realised this and are reacting by trying to control the Internet.

‘Thai E-News: News about Thailand that you may not have read in the news’ is the slogan of one of Thailand’s leading political websites.  It has only content and no web board.  It is unabashedly ‘red’, but red with a strange smell.  It posts critical points of view from all circles.

This was a  busy week on the frontlines of personal freedom, particularly in regards to free speech. Tying together several key events were government’s increasingly sophisticated restrictions on our human rights, and the efforts to push them back. For obvious reasons, freedom of speech is dear to this writer, and this week’s post addresses the past week’s developments.

Google's promise to end its self-censorship in China, a daring response to a Chinese cyber attack, may have brought the shine back to the search giant's "Don't Be Evil" ethos. But Google is still blocking certain content in other countries at the demand of their governments. The company won't comment on whether it plans to change those censorship schemes.

Sawatree Suksri, a lecturer of the Faculty of Law, Thammasat University, who has studied computer-related law in Germany, talked to Prachatai about the 2007 Computer Crimes Act which she finds too ambiguous in many points, including, for example, national security, which has been subject to arbitrary interpretations by the authorities.

In recent days police in Thailand arrested and charged another person over causing a decline in the stock market by spreading rumours through the Internet about the king's health. 

The legal tools that the authorities abuse to restrict free expression in Thailand are the 2007 Computer Crime Act and the lese majeste law (section 112 of the criminal code), which mainly targets Internet users. Harassment and intimidation are constantly employed to dissuade Internet users from freely expressing their views.

Thai Netizen Network demands Thai authorities to make clarification on the recent arrests of internet users, including Nat Sattayapornpisut in whose case the authorities are asked to disclose the means of accessing e-mail accounts and the law that entitled them to do so, 'since this matter may have violated people’s right to privacy and freedom to communicate'.

The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) expresses its concern over a statement made by Information and Communication Technology Minister Ranongrak Suwanchawee of Thailand threatening to pursue legal action against websites and their respective Internet service providers (ISPs) where posts discussing the King’s health allegedly caused the drop in the Thai bourse last month.

Three Internet users have been arrested in the past four days for posting articles blaming King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s poor health for last month’s fall in the Bangkok stock exchange. They have been charged under article 14 of the Computer Crimes Act 2007 with endangering national security by spreading false rumours about the king’s health.

The translation of a Bloomberg news report was posted on the Prachatai webboard jus after 6 pm, after the Thai stock market had already slumped and closed on 14 Oct.  The news report in question is Richard Frost’s Thai Stocks, Baht Slump on King’s Health Speculation, whose title indicates that the ‘slump’ had already taken place.

Theeranan Wiphuchanin, using the alias BBB, posted her translation at 18:09.  

We have just discovered free Thai language news site Liberal Thai blocked by a transparent proxy redirecting users to Thailand’s ICT ministry.

Mr. Frank La Rue, UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression visited South Korea for attending international symposium on 'Freedom of Opinion and Expression in Cyber Space' and workshop on 'Situation of Freedom of Expression in South Korea and the Use of UN Special Procedures' between October 12 and October 15.

The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) is seeking more cooperation from relevant agencies and business groups to prevent inappropriate content on the internet.  The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) says the National Telecommunication Commission (NTC) is authorized to withdraw or suspend the licenses of the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) who do not cooperate in blocking inappropriate web pages.

9,600 web pages have been blocked. The 2007 Computer Crimes Act will be amended to allow Internet Service Providers to immediately block ‘offensive’ web pages on sight or upon complaint without court orders or requests from the MICT, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry says.

A police IT task force has been set up to monitor websites and track down those who offend the monarchy.  Police find it difficult to deal with websites whose servers are located abroad.  The Crime Suppression Division is investigating Thaksin’s phone-ins, and charges are likely to be made.   

Officers fighting cyber crime should not target intermediaries such as Internet service providers, webmasters and search engines because it is ineffective and allows real criminal to get undetected, hurting the economy and the community, according to the Thai Netizen Network (TNN).

Blogging and Democratization in Malaysia: A New Civil Society in the Making is the first book to discuss blogging in Malaysia in detail. It draws upon a survey completed in late 2006, interviews and observations, and it is a unique record of the early moments of social-political blogging in Malaysia.  There is also a timely postscript to the book that discusses the overall impact of blogging on the ‘political tsunami’ of the Malaysian general elections in 2008.

An Italian court has delayed a case against search giant Google, which could have major ramifications for content providers around the globe.

At the heart of the case is a debate about how much responsibility providers have for the content on their sites.

The Fah Diew Kan (Same Sky) publishing house website was shut down on the night of Jan 4 by its hosting server.