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Of: TT
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Photo: Sakchai Lalit / AP / TT
Protests in Bangkok on Sunday.
Thailand’s police have announced that four media companies will be investigated for reporting on protests critical of the regime that have been going on for three months.
The investigation, which is also directed at a Facebook page belonging to a protest group, is being carried out with support in the emergency situation announced last week.
Content that irritates the authorities is suspected of being released to “cause confusion and disturbances,” according to police spokesman Kissana Phathanacharoen. It claims that there is no plan to circumvent freedom of the press.
But the measures are harshly criticized by defenders of freedom of expression. The independent news site Prachatai describes them as a censorship order.
The events are prohibited
“It is an honor to report accurate information on human rights and political developments in Thailand. We will do our best to continue to do so,” the news site wrote on its Twitter account in English.
As part of the emergency, the country’s government decided to ban news reports and posts on social media that could be considered to affect national security. At the same time, political events with five or more participants were banned.
But thousands of people have continued to demonstrate daily in Bangkok and other parts of the country.
Requires new election
“When the ban on protests did not work, the military-backed government hopes to create fear of telling the truth,” Emilie Palamy Pradichit, director of the online freedom organization The Manushya Foundation, said in a statement.
The protest movement demands more democracy, new elections, a rewritten constitution, and the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha. He took power in a coup in 2014 and won a controversial election in 2019.
For the sake of weirdness, protesters have also demanded reforms from the authoritarian monarchy in the country. Criticism of the royal family has long been taboo in Thailand, even among opposition figures.
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