Government demands YouTube reveal user identity
BangkokPost.com
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The latest development came on Friday, just as the kerfuffle over the Internet videos appeared to be dying down and headed for a mutual resolution which would remove insulting videos and reopen YouTube.com to all Thai visitors. The Information and Communication Technology Ministry re-escalated the battle against the anti-monarchy videos on Friday, saying Thai authorities would demand YouTube.com hand over the Internet addresses of those who uploaded the clips.
The number of clips insulting the monarch has mushroomed after news spread around the world that Thailand had banned the popular site.
Despite claims by Google that some clips had been removed, the most popular such videos remained on the site on Friday afternoon.
Now, ICT Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom says authorities wanted to charge those who posted the mocking video clips with lese majeste, the crime of offending a monarch, which is punishable by up to15 years imprisonment.
"The police will ask for information from the company to file criminal charges against them," he said on Friday.
Mr Sitthichai did not say what might happen if YouTube refuses to hand over the information. A decision by YouTube or its owners to give such information to the Thai government would earn Thailand and Mr Sitthichai a firestorm of criticism across the Internet, and by civil rights groups around the world.
Even if YouTube or Google were to roll over and give the government the IP addresses, it would take more work to track down the actual people involved.
As of now, no one knows where the uploaders of the insulting videos live. IP addresses can be traced to an Internet company, which then would have to be compelled to match the Internet Protocol address to a specific user. There is little chance that a foreign court would allow such an invasion of privacy, but a Thai Internet provider would probably turn over such information in a case of insulting the monarchy.
Mr Sitthichai issued the threat to demand IP addresses two days after Google, which owns YouTube.com, informed the ministry that it would remove controversial video clips from the website. In turn, the ministry cancelled plans to try to launch a cirminal suit against Google at the Bangkok Criminal Court on Friday.
Mr Sitthichai said the ministry would unblock the YouTube website "immediately" - when all the clips were gone.
But there is great uncertainty over whether the videos will be removed. The text of the letter to Mr Sitthichai from Google vice president Kent Walker has been released, and Mr Walker said:
at least two of the videos cited by a Thai complaint would stay as they did not break lese majeste laws.
"They appear to be political comments that are critical of both the government and the conduct of foreigners," the letter said.
"Because they are political in nature, and not intended insults of His Majesty, we do not see a basis for blocking these videos," said the letter.
As of Friday at 4:30 p.m. Thailand time, all or most of the offensive clips were still on the YouTube.com site, according to informants able to access the website. And the government's attempt to block the site also remained in place.
I have been doing a little research. Thailand is actually breaking the law right now because it is violating The Universal Declaration on Human Rights and The International Covenant on Civil and Political rights.
This junta stated that it will respect all of its international obligations. This Thai government, which is an illegal government by the way, is forbidden to prosecute people over freedom of expression issues.
The Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR), which the UN General Assembly adopted in 1948, defines the right to freedom of expression at Article 19 as follows:
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes the right to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
Thailand ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)28 in January 1997. This is a legally binding treaty that in Article 19 guarantees the right to freedom of opinion and expression in very similar terms to the UDHR:
1. Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference.
2. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.
Also, the Thai government can't dictate to a foreign company domiciled abroad what to do, and it certainly can't compel YouTube to disclose the information of one of its users, especially over political speech.
I haven't seen the actual videos, because I am in Thailand, but somebody sent me a screen shot. There is no doubt that the videos were conveying political speech. The first video was actually protesting against the jailing of Oliver Jufer.
Some of the more unflattering videos weren't nice, but they were definitely protest videos.
Low political legitimacy
1 week ago
