Thai government blocks YouTube after video clip insults monarch
The Thailand government blocked access to YouTube yesterday after it complained that a short video clip on the site was insulting to 79-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
YouTube apparently turned down a request to remove the 44-second video which depicted graffiti-like elements painted over a slideshow of photographs of the King, backed by audio of the Thai national anthem.
Google, who owns YouTube, said that they were disappointed that the site had been blocked in Thailand.
Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom, the country’s minister of information and technology, said that less than 10 sites have been blocked since he took office, though the Thai police department stated that over 32,000 ‘illicit’ web sites had been reported and blocked since April 2002.
