BANGKOK • Police in Thailand said yesterday that they have ordered an investigation of four news outlets under emergency measures introduced last week and imposed curbs on messaging app Telegram to try to stop three months of protests against the government and monarchy.
The announcement prompted anger from media groups and accusations of an attack on press freedom by the government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, the former junta leader the protesters are seeking to drive from office.
According to a police document dated Oct 16, investigations have been ordered into content from four media outlets as well as the Facebook page of a protest group.
"We received information from intelligence units concerned that parts of the content and distorted information have been used and disseminated to cause confusion and instigate causing unrest to society," said police spokesman Kissana Phathanacharoen at a news conference. He said it was for Thailand's broadcast regulator and digital ministry to investigate and take appropriate action, adding that there was no plan to curb press freedom.
Mr Putchapong Nodthaisong, a spokesman for the digital ministry, said it had requested court orders to take down content by the four media outlets and the Facebook page of the protest group Free Youth, among more than 300,000 pieces of content that it said violated Thai laws over the last week.
The Manushya Foundation, an independent group which campaigns for online freedom, called the measures an attempt to silence free media. "Since the ban on protests did not work, the military-backed government hopes to create fear of telling the truth," its director Emilie Palamy Pradichit said. "We urge free media to resist."
The government last Thursday ordered a ban on news and online information that could affect national security. The authorities also banned political gatherings of five or more people in the face of the growing challenge.
In addition, police chief Suwat Jangyodsuk told reporters yesterday that he had ordered the digital ministry to restrict Free Youth's group on Telegram, a messaging application that protesters had used to coordinate in recent days.
Mr Putchapong, the ministry's spokesman, declined to verify another document, apparently signed by him, that asked Internet service providers and mobile operators to "suspend Telegram" completely.
Protests have taken place every day since they were banned last Thursday, and Sunday's demonstrations drew tens of thousands of people in Bangkok and across the country. Yesterday, protesters gathered again in Bangkok.
Protesters are seeking the removal of Prime Minister Prayut, accusing him of engineering last year's election to hold on to the power he first seized in a 2014 coup. Mr Prayut maintains that the election was fair, and he will not quit.
The protesters have also grown more vocal in demanding reforms to the monarchy to reduce the powers of King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
Meanwhile, speaking at Government House yesterday, Mr Prayut said he supported a proposal for a special Parliament session to discuss how to reduce the tension, and he also adopted a softer tone with the protesters.
"We are just asking people not to do wrong and destroy the government and people's property," he said. "What the government needs to do is to protect the monarchy.
"I request that protesters rally peacefully. The government has already compromised to some degree," he added.
REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
