\n
![](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rsoftsolution.com\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/RSSPoster_PRO\/cache\/f8774_50de2d009b9547c487568f792dbe836f.jpeg?w=640&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
For millions of\u00a0people, Facebook is the<\/em> internet \u2014 but many of those who rely on the social network for news and views\u00a0may not be aware that Facebook\u00a0isn\u2019t immune to internet censorship itself.<\/p>\n That\u2019s become apparent in Thailand, where Facebook is blocking content from a number of users following an apparent request from the government. Thailand\u2019s\u00a0l\u00e8se-majest\u00e9 law prevents criticism of the country\u2019s royal family, and it looks like it is being used to suppress\u00a0postings from a number of high-profile users who are writing about the transition to a new king, including journalist Andrew MacGregor Marshall. The former Reuters correspondent, now a lecturer at Edinburgh Napier University,\u00a0is already well known to Thai authorities.\u00a0His\u00a02014 book on the Thai royal family<\/a> was banned and branded a \u201cdanger to national security and peaceful and orderly society.\u201d<\/p>\n TechCrunch has independently confirmed that, as MacGregor Marshall noted, at least one of his posts is not available in Thailand but can be read outside of the country. Marshall McGregor\u2019s profile and the rest of his feed remain visible in Thailand.\u00a0The post in question is from late December and, while it isn\u2019t clear when it was blocked, a reposting made this week was\u00a0visible in Thailand at the time of writing.<\/p>\n Facebook declined to comment for this story.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t the first instance of the social network\u00a0upholding local law in Thailand. Its own data shows<\/a> that the firm restricted access to 10 pieces of content in the country in the first half of 2016. Facebook\u2019s latest privacy report for the second half of last year is due to be released soon.<\/p>\n In its 2016 report<\/a>, Freedom House, a U.S. think tank that monitors global freedoms,\u00a0noted that Thailand\u2019s internet and media are \u201cnot free.\u201d\u00a0Thailand\u2019s junta government took power in a 2015 coup \u2014 which included a half hour blockage of Facebook<\/a> \u2014 and it has continued to suppress\u00a0criticism online.<\/p>\n \u201cInternet freedom declined in 2016 as the military leadership continued its efforts to codify censorship and surveillance powers through legislation,\u201d Freedom House wrote.<\/p>\n The situation has intensified as\u00a0new King Maha Vajiralongkorn has ascended to the throne\u00a0following the death of\u00a0his father, the much revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, in October. Just last month,\u00a0Thai authorities paid\u00a0a visit to the BBC\u2019s offices<\/a> in capital city Bangkok in response\u00a0to the news organization\u2019s reporting of the newly appointed monarch.<\/p>\n Facebook has failed to deal\u00a0with the issue of fake news<\/a> recently, particularly around the U.S. election, while a number of high-profile censorship incidents, including the blocking of\u00a0an iconic photograph of a girl fleeing a napalm attack during the Vietnam War<\/a>, have highlighted its struggle to realize its responsibilities and influence as a media company<\/a>.<\/p>\n In this case, however, complying with Thailand\u2019s\u00a0l\u00e8se-majest\u00e9 is very much deliberate. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is driven by a vision of \u201cconnecting the world\u201d<\/a>\u00a0and, though he has said\u00a0a compromise is necessary<\/a> in the case of countries like China where free speech is\u00a0restricted, it is hard to see how that vision fits with kowtowing to a law that has gotten Thai people jailed for Facebook comments<\/a>, or even merely receiving a message<\/a>\u00a0on the social network.<\/p>\n Facebook is the largest platform, but it is far from the only target for Thai censors. The government has previously\u00a0taken action against content on YouTube<\/a>, the Daily Mail<\/a>,\u00a0and chat app Line<\/a>, among many\u00a0other online platforms<\/a>. Ministers have even gone so far as to claim that they can monitor conversations on Line,<\/a>\u00a0which has over 20 million users in Thailand.\u00a0Japan-based Line, which is listed on the NYSE, rejected the claim as untrue.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Featured Image: Marcio Jose Sanchez\/AP<\/small><\/p>\n Article source: http:\/\/feedproxy.google.com\/~r\/techcrunch\/social\/~3\/dFLmiaBvRj8\/<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For millions of\u00a0people, Facebook is the internet \u2014 but many of those who rely on the social network for news and views\u00a0may not be aware that Facebook\u00a0isn\u2019t immune to internet <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[10,7,14,15,6,12,11],"class_list":["post-2810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-update","tag-computer-news","tag-downloads","tag-microsoft-download-news","tag-networking-updates","tag-technology-update","tag-wordpress-plugin-download","tag-wordpress-theme-download"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t