Thailand Sparks Outrage after Pornhub Ban
By Bryan Ke
November 4, 2020
Thai people took to social media to express their outrage after Thailand’s government banned PornHub and 190 other gambling and adult websites.
New cybercrime laws: The news came on Tuesday when Digital Minister Puttipong Punnakanta announced the government is now blocking access to the popular adult website, according Reuters.
- Access to pornography and gambling websites is reportedly a violation under Thailand’s strict cybercrime law.
- Thailand was among the top 20 countries that visited the well-known adult website last year, according to its data released in December 2019. The country placed 17th place right between Ukraine at 16th and Russia at 18th.
- However, it placed first in the Time Spent Per Visit where the average visit of those from Thailand were 11 minutes and 21 seconds – this was down by 12 seconds from the previous year.
Outrage and protest: Activists took to social media and out to the streets to protest the ban on PornHub.
- The hashtag #SavePornhub became a trending topic where users criticized the government for its decision. Users also made the hashtag #พลังเงี่ยน, which translates to #HornyPower, trending on Thai social media.
Activists organized a protest outside the digital ministry and held out banners that read “free PornHub” and “reclaim PornHub”.
- “We want to reclaim Pornhub. People are entitled to choices,” Anonymous Party, an activist group in Thailand, said.
- The decision to block PornHub only shows Thailand was “a land of digital dictatorship, with conservatives in power trying to control what young people can watch, can say and can do online,” said Emilie Pradichit, the director of the Manushya Foundation, a non-government human rights organization that also fights for digital rights.
- Top10VPN, an internet research firm, saw a 640% spike of searches from Thailand after the government placed the ban on PornHub starting Monday.
Feature Image via Getty
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