Porn A Problem says Ministry who Between the Hardcore Search for Threats to National Security

 | Fri 19 Jul 2013 08:58 ICT

CityNews – The Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA) is teaming up with seven major online service providers to introduce new guidelines for dealing with the spread of illegal content on the internet, the Bangkok Post reported.

Blocking porn on the net might be the ultimate Sisyphean task

In Thailand, internet censorship is conducted by the Royal Thai Police, the Communications Authority of Thailand, and the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT). More than 34,000 websites are blocked by all three government agencies. The great majority (60%) of censored sites are pornographic.

Over the past four years, more than 50,000 Thai URLs were required to remove illegal content, mostly relating to pornography or content that posed a risk to national security. Srida Tanta-atipanid, manager of the Internet Foundation for the Development of Thailand, said that over the past three years, the foundation had received around 300 requests from overseas organisations to remove child pornography hosted on Thai websites.

Surangkana Wayuparb, director of the ETDA, said they will work with the PKI Association, Thailand Information Security Association, Internet Foundation for the Development of Thailand, Thailand ISP Association, Thai e-Commerce Association, Google Asia Pacific, and eBay Inc. to create clear procedures on how to deal with illegal online content, especially that which is related to pornography, terrorism, drugs, spam, and copyright infringement

Currently, providers are not required to remove illegal content from websites within a designated time limit. After the code of conduct is implemented, however, providers will be responsible for removing illegal content within 15 days.