Censors busy on the internet

The government policy on internet censorship needs an immediate and sweeping rethink and change. This assumes it has a policy at all, given the current state of efforts to filter and block websites. The current effort to ''filter'' the internet, to use the word of the official censor, does little but add to the foreign perception that Thailand is under strong and constant control of a military government. The zeal of the official censor should alarm everyone whose aim is to establish a government that is accountable for its actions. Until the Sept 19 military coup, internet censors built power and ability. The Thaksin Shinawatra government occasionally tried to turn censorship into virtue by claiming it was all done on behalf of children. This is the familiar claim of all censors of course _ that they selflessly protect victims. But predictably, internet censorship under Mr Thaksin immediately turned from an anti-pornography crusade into a political act.

Today, pornography is more freely accessible on the Thailand internet than ever. Censorship, meanwhile, has expanded into a secret bureaucracy which operates out of unknown offices. Censors provide neither explanation, warning nor appeal. They aim more and more at websites which are neither obscene nor a threat to children.

It was disturbing that military authorities officially appointed the modern Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology as national censor. The zeal and enthusiasm the new ICT minister and senior officials have shown is even more worrying. The ICT ministry was formed to be a leader in encouraging people to use and to develop technology wisely. The sight of such a ministry searching out nasty websites is troubling. That the ICT ministry is working, often alongside China, to develop better technology to block the internet is a setback for a future with information technology.

As official censor, Minister Sitthichai Pokai-udom has closed hundreds of discussion forums including the internationally famous Midnight University. The ministry has intimidated internet providers from carrying national debate or allowing political websites. The minister has made no statement to the public to defend, explain or justify his avid use of the firewall of censorship. Meanwhile, internet news sites now show Thailand as just slightly better than Burma or China at allowing net access by citizens _ and far below the openness of Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

Before the Police Bureau on High Tech Crime stopped public reports earlier this month, it bragged it had blacklisted 34,437 websites. Of these ''illicit websites'' filtered since 2002, the police themselves said just 60% were pornographic. Nearly 4,000 were ordered closed by police because they allegedly violated national security. This, of course, is a well-known accusation and dodge by Thai censors. It is a carryover catchall, used to shutter newspapers and imprison innocent people decades before the internet came into existence.

The military regime says that its goal is to guide Thailand to a proper democratic system in less than a year. The unique and most admirable quality of democracy is accountability. So here is a suggestion for the government: Make internet censorship accountable. For starters, Mr Sitthichai should explain and justify the actions of his ministry in closing off network access, debate, scientific exchange and discussion among citizens. For example, does a political chat session online equal a gathering of five people in the real world? Is it necessary to ban such sessions, and to close websites that encourage them?

The censors have failed miserably to halt access to online pornography, violence or gambling. Citizens should ask, then, what is the purpose of internet censorship? And the government should answer whether a free society can allow authorities to stifle a sincere exchange of views on the pretext of protecting children. Citizens should debate if there must be any limits on the internet; dozens of countries do well without them. If so, they must be decided openly and by everyone.

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