"We Should Have A Society Where No Censorship Is Required": Prasoon Joshi
In the third part of his Bollywood Hungama exclusive interview with Content Head Broadband Faridoon Shahryar, Prasoon Joshi talks about his recent Padma Shri honour. He talks about his art...
By: BollywoodHungama.com
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"We Should Have A Society Where No Censorship Is Required": Prasoon Joshi - Video
Is censorship smothering Indias arts scene?
World Have Your Say is in New Delhi to ask whether the country #39;s leading writers, musicians, and directors should be free to offend and provoke. Here #39;s Anu A...
By: BBC World Have Your Say
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Is censorship smothering Indias arts scene? - Video
Thailand's junta has forced a German foundation to cancel a prominent forum on media restrictions imposed since the military toppled an elected government last May.
The move is the latest sign of defensiveness by the army, which installed an interim civilian Cabinet but reserves ultimate power for itself. On Wednesday, a foreign ministry spokesman complained that a visiting U.S. State Department envoy had hurt the country's pride by calling for an end to martial law.
Germany's Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, a foundation promoting social democracy worldwide, said on its Facebook page that it would comply with a request from the junta to postpone Friday's presentation of a study on media freedom in Thailand. Requests from the junta are tantamount to orders.
The junta, officially called the National Council for Peace and Order, threatens critics with arrest under martial law. It is seeking to strengthen already harsh laws governing communication on the Internet and comments on the country's monarchy.
Manop Thip-osod, a spokesman for the Thai Journalists Association, said the group was sorry to see Friday's event postponed and was concerned about freedom of expression in the country. The association was a co-sponsor of the event, which was to have included a panel discussion.
"This is the launch of an academic work on the media that the NCPO should think about and check carefully, because to block such an event does not bode well for the country's image, which is being monitored by the international community," Manop said.
Junta spokesman Col. Winthai Suvaree said the event organizers should have provided the authorities with information about the event in advance, but because they didn't they were asked to postpone it because "we are still in a sensitive time."
The German foundation declined to comment beyond its Facebook statement. However, Manop said that according to the foundation, the military authorities said the event could cause damage and be very sensitive. While the junta has indicated that it considers almost any criticism of its actions to be potentially destabilizing, such language usually refers to cases of criticism of the monarchy.
Criticism of the monarchy is punishable by three to 15 years in prison under Thailand's longstanding lese majeste law. After last May's coup, the junta began prosecuting such cases in military courts, with no avenue of appeal. The growing number of such cases, frequently involving Internet postings, has drawn great concern from local and international rights defenders.
In other junta actions Thursday, members of the ousted government who criticized recent actions against former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra barring her from political office for five years and threatening her with criminal prosecution for a rice subsidy policy were told to report to military authorities for an "attitude adjustment." They were not detained.
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Thai Junta Blocks Discussion of Media Censorship
Amit Bareket calls it a "cat-and-mouse" game. In this instance, his company is the mouse, and the Chinese government is a giant cat.
The two sides are continually at odds, because Bareket's company, SaferVPN, is one of many that provide software tools designed to circumvent the country's notorious Internet censorship.
These tools are growing more popular in China, in spite of recent government attempts to block them, according to Bareket.
"I can tell you that more than 300 new VPN users come to our service every day in China," said Bareket, who is the spokesman at SaferVPN.
VPNs, which stand for Virtual Private Networks, are essentially tools that can let users bypass Internet censorship. For about US$6 to $10 a month, subscribers to these services in China can access blocked sites such as Facebook, YouTube and more.
But lately, China has been more aggressive in trying to disrupt these services. Last week, several VPN providers reported access problems for users. Days later, one of the country's top regulators defended the actions and signaled that the authorities were prepared to crack down further.
"As the Internet develops, and new circumstances arise, we will take new regulatory measures to keep up," said Wen Ku, a director with China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
That said, the recent disruptions haven't stopped the VPN services, only added a minor roadblock. Companies like SaferVPN still manage to bring their services to the country, and are working on new technologies to stay a step ahead of the censors.
Although VPN providers serve countries across the world, China is one of the big markets, Bareket said. SaferVPN is a smaller player, and has only several thousands of users from the country. Bareket estimated that the bigger VPN providers may have over 100,000 users in China, if not more.
In SaferVPN's case, it's not just foreigners living in China and businesses that use its service, but also local residents. VPNs became more widespread among Chinese users last year, driven mainly by regular users wanting access to site likes Facebook, Bareket said.
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VPN providers play 'cat-and-mouse' with China's growing censorship
China Cracks Down On VPN Services After Censorship
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China Cracks Down On VPN Services After Censorship - Video