YouTube unbanned in Thailand, will help gov block dissident sites

Boing Boing reader Curtis says,

I'm in Thailand, and discovered I could access YouTube again. My blog entry describes what I was doing at the time. I guess I'm just happy to have YouTube back, and at the time wasn't really thinking about why I get to watch YouTube again.

Yes, the real news is that YouTube "has taken care of the matter by itself" by agreeing to filter content that might be deemed illegal for users in Thailand to see.

And I guess it's that part of the news that folks will find troubling, especially as press freedoms and free speech continue to be eroded in Thailand, and the Thai authorities are making moves to strengthen their censorship of films and television. Now YouTube is helping them clamp down on the Net.

Link

Previously on Boing Boing:

YouTube blocked in Thailand now?

YouTube blocked in Thailand for two weeks now

Web-censoring weather report: Thailand still blocking YouTube

YouTube remains blocked in Thailand, nevermind

Update: BB reader Meade in Thailand says,

I'm still getting the "Police Aleart" [sic] through my ISP, but the headline of one of the local English-language dailies today reads "Ban on YouTube lifted after deal". Link. I'll believe it when I (successfully connect to and) see it.

[#1 posted by Daniel Morris, August 30, 2007 2:47 PM]

Hooray! Videos of Bangkok lady-boys are available to all of Thailand again. I wonder how long it will last...

[#2 posted by Anonymous, August 30, 2007 3:20 PM]

Why on earth were you expecting anything else from a for-profit company? Did you think they were on your side? How naïve is that?

[#3 posted by s5, August 30, 2007 6:04 PM]

It's sad but it's up to the citizens of Thailand to pressure their government to change their local laws, and up to the citizens of America to pressure our government to link trade status with human rights. The voluntary whims of business owners to "do the right thing" is no substitute for the democratic process.

YouTube certainly could choose to refuse to do business in Thailand, but that won't help the Thai people. They'd either get cut off from even more information, or someone else would start a competing business offering censored video content. Nothing will change until the fix happens in the only place where it will be effective: with governments. I know this may be considered unhip with the libertarians and the corporate responsibility set (two groups who are more alike than they know), but there it is.

[#4 posted by Anonymous, August 30, 2007 7:41 PM]

Joy. So much for "Don't Be Evil."

[#5 posted by Anonymous, August 30, 2007 8:05 PM]

Our informal corporate motto is "Don't be evil."

[#6 posted by Anonymous, August 31, 2007 12:52 AM]

I've read its been unblocked in some parts of Thailand for weeks now. Its still blocked by my provider in Thailand:
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Sorry,
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For more information please contact:
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