IPS-English PRESS FREEDOM DAY-THAILAND: Media Landscape Worries Activists Date: Thu, 03 May 2007 15:06:11 -0700 Lynette Lee Corporal BANGKOK, May 3 (IPS) - Blocked websites, banned films, news programmes taken off the air, self-censorship among traditional media. These have been the military government's 'sins' since it seized power in September 2006, in the eyes of advocates of freedom of expression and free media advocates. ''The media have proven to be unreliable in matters regarding pertinent national issues. We've seen almost consistent self-censorship and bias. Traditional media in Thailand have never been allowed by the government to be truly free,'' said CJ Hinke, a proponent of freedom of expression and a signatory of the Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT) campaign launched in November 2006. Among this group's goals is to see the total ban of Internet censorship by Thai authorities. Former senator and activist Jon Ungpakorn echoes the same sentiment, saying that broadcast media's role is particularly important. ”The media have an essential role to play in understanding issues. . . if they broadcast propaganda or become subservient to political masters, then we're facing a real crisis here,” he said. The current government, installed under military rule, is known for giving 'directives' to broadcast media networks not to air issues that threaten national security, critics say. In the fmonths following the Sep. 19, 2006 coup, all video clips and news about ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra were blocked from news programmes. Exclusive interviews with Thaksin on international media networks such as CNN and BBC were also taken off the air. In March 2007, the military-led government stopped the airing of People's Television news programmes about Thaksin. Broadcast via satellite from Hong Kong, PTV was formed by former members of Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai party. The print media have so far remained unscathed but have borne the brunt of criticism by civil society activists, who say they have been kowtowing to the government's demands and exercising varying degrees of self-censorship. Yubol Benjarongkij, dean of the Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Communication Arts, said in an interview: ”Censorship is not good for the people. People have every right to talk about issues openly and make choices based on the facts given them.” Prachya Pinkaew, president of the Film Directors' Association, agrees and believes that the government should not be involved with censorship at all. As far as films are concerned, the widely acclaimed director of such films as 'Ong Bak: Muay Thai Warrior' and 'Tom Yum Goong' says that movies should be rated by an independent body. In Thailand, a committee composed of soldiers, police, doctors and people from the film industry decides if a movie can be shown with or without cuts, or banned. ''It's better if films were just rated, because then only adults will be allowed to watch 'For Adults Only' movies. This would be unlike the present set-up, where most of the time, children still get exposed to, say, violence because these were not cut by the censors,” he said. Yubol believes that people care about their freedom to choose. ”They're probably not as vocal about it because the issues are not being tackled enough, but they do care,” she said. Hinke said that their fight is not against the coup per se, but against ”the repression of all political dissent”. He believes that the post-coup censorship is not any more severe than during Thaksin's time. ”The coup leaders told us that everything will get better and that they stood for freedom, but that's not what we're seeing here,” he said. Hinke, a longtime resident of Thailand, added: ”Letters to the editor have always been ineffective. The people do not have a public place to have discussions so they have turned to the Internet, but that too is being blocked.” TiTV reporter Suphajon Klinsuwan, however, maintains that many people do not believe in the accuracy of information on the Internet when it comes to facts on national issues. Besides, he added, ”Internet access and awareness in Thailand is still low”. The English-language daily ‘The Nation' reports that there are some 10 million Internet users in a country with a population of 62 million. Although it has not escaped the eye -- and the ire -- of government censors especially in matters of national security, the Internet is still seen by Netizens as the 'last frontier' where freedom of expression can still be exercised. That is, if its advocates win the ongoing 'cat and mouse' game. While the brouhaha seems to have died down over the blocking in Thailand of You Tube on Apr. 4 due to material that is widely believed to be an attack on the monarch, critics have expressed fears about the future of Internet censorship. The site remains inaccessible after Google Inc, You Tube owner, refused the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology's (MICT) request to remove the offending clip. Subsequently, the owner of the video removed it, but reports say more copies spread like wildfire in the site. Since the military took power, political sites such as http://www.19sep.org, which was set up after the coup and http://www.pulo.org, which belongs to the banned Pattani United Liberation Organisation (PULO), remain blocked. According to MICT deputy permanent secretary Maneerat Plipat, 90 percent of blocked sites in Thailand are pornographic ones. ”We are only capable of blocking 2,000 sites as we do not have the capability and staff to monitor the Internet 24/7,” she said, contradicting the figure of 13,388 sites that FACT recorded on Jan. 11 as blocked. ”We are not against the Internet, but we have to educate the public how to use it properly and protect them from cyber criminals. Admittedly, it is popular among the younger generation and it will be a trend in the future but not right now,” she said.An Internet bill is pending in the National Legislative Assembly. What the 507 signatories of FACT's petition against censorship in media say they are concerned with, however, is what they call a lack of transparency about MICT actions. ”None of the officials in the ministry will provide information about the criteria for blocking, the people authorised to block, or how they are doing it,” said Hinke. Besides, added Hinke, blocking each and every site will prove useless given that there are 5 to 7 billion webpages on the Net, 2 billion active webpages, 120 million blogs and 10 million pornographic sites. ”Even if we dedicate the entire national budget of Thailand, it's never going to be effective,” he said. For Hinke and other activists, it boils down to teaching people to make responsible and informed choices. ”It's the same as watching television -- you don't like it, change channels. That's responsible censorship and it doesn't have to be done by the government,” he said. ***** + THAILAND: Junta Tightens Media Censorship (http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=36236) +MEDIA-THAILAND: Coup Masters Ban Community Radio (http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=35023) (END/IPS/AP/PF/IC/HD/DV/CS/IP/LC/JS/RDR/07) = 05031322 ORP009 NNNN