Thailand pressures YouTube
2007-04-10 10:56
Bangkok - Thailand on Tuesday said it would again petition the website YouTube to remove video clips deemed insulting to the king, as the number of videos mocking the revered monarch soared.
The army-backed Thai government last week blocked the popular video-sharing website after a clip appeared showing images of King Bhumibol Adulyadej defaced by crude graffiti.
The original clip has since been removed, but Thailand's decision to censor the website seems to have spurred YouTube users worldwide to create their own videos mocking the king, with dozens currently posted on the site.
Communications minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudoom said the government would send a letter to YouTube's parent company Google on Tuesday explaining why the clips were offensive to the king.
"(We will explain that) our king is above politics, and this is the reason that we blocked the website because it can anger Thais," Sitthichai told reporters before the weekly cabinet meeting.
"Thai people worship the king, but foreigners could not understand this sentiment, so we have to explain. We will continue blocking YouTube until everything is corrected and all clips are deleted," he said.
He repeated claims made Monday that Google was ignoring Thailand's pleas because it was a small country, and accused the US-based company of hypocrisy because it had agreed to censor its search engine in China.
International affair
Local newspapers on Tuesday lambasted the government's handling of the YouTube controversy.
"Authorities have escalated a hateful, homemade graffito into an international affair," the English-language Bangkok Post said in an editorial.
"The more that (Sitthichai) publicly lashes YouTube and its users for posting attacks on the monarchy, the more such attacks will appear in myriad places," it added.
Media rights watchdogs have expressed concern about an escalating clampdown on free speech since a military coup here last September, with a number of political websites blocked since the putsch.