JAKARTA - The blocking of the Pornhub site by the Thai government has a long tail. Those who are part of the pro-democracy movement in Thailand have protested against the owners of policies.
The demonstrators considered the blocking action carried out by the Thai government as a form of dictatorship in the digital era. According to Reuters, Thursday, November 5, Pornhub is not the only one that is banned. Authorities have also blocked 190 other sites deemed to display pornography.
Thailand's Digital Minister Puttipong Punnakanta said the move was chosen by the government as an effort to limit access to porn and gambling sites. By law (UU), it is classified as an illegal cyber crime.
However, rumors emerged. The public believes the blocking of Pornhub was done because on the site people can access nasty recordings of members of the royal family in recent years.
The smell of the scandal also angered the demonstrators. They also had time to enliven the virtual world with the hashtag #SavePornhub. They criticized the closure of the site, where Thailand is in the top 20 countries with the highest daily visits globally in 2019.
One of the strong voices regarding the blockade was a group of activists calling themselves the Anonymous Party. “We want to reclaim Pornhub. People have the right to choice. "
The pro-democracy rally against censorship has started at the Digital Ministry at Government Complex in Chaengwattana. # ม็อบ 3 พ ฤ ศ จิ า pic.twitter.com/8cXtT91MEl
- Erich Parpart (@erich_parpart) November 3, 2020
Not only that. A group of pro-democracy activists who take to the streets every day to urge the dismissal of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and reform of the monarchy system also took part in rallies outside Thailand's Digital Ministry offices. They came complete with banners reading "Free Pornhub" and "Reclaim Pornhub."
For them, #SavePornhub is an added demand alongside the shaking of the monarchy. Regarding the blocking, Director of the Manushya Foundation Emilie Pradichit spoke up.
Emilie said, the government's move to block many websites was a decision that could not be justified. It is as if the government is starting to show its fangs as a dictator in the digital era.
"(Thailand) is the land of a digital dictatorship, with conservatives in power trying to control what young people can watch, say and do online," he exclaimed.
On the other hand, the blocking of Pornhub has made internet research firm Top10VPN a fortune. They noted a surge in Thais downloading a Virtual Private Network (VPN).
Due to the popularity of post-blocking VPNs, the download spike even reached 640 percent. This is a serious spike compared to the average VPN download in the previous month, September and October.
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