Thailand's premier today said the kingdom must counter online dissent and royal defamation as public outcry mounts over junta plans to launch a single Internet gateway that critics say will muzzle the web.
Activists brought down several government websites last week in protest at plans dubbed the "Great Firewall of Thailand", a play on China's draconian Internet censorship programme.
Nearly 150,000 people have signed an online petition against the proposal seen as a way to more easily block content on the web, one of the biggest public rallying points since the military seized power from an elected government last year.
On his weekly "Returning happiness to the nation" programme today Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha reiterated "no conclusions" had been reached on the plans and that "human rights must be respected".
But he stressed that Thailand faces "cyber threats" and political misinformation, urging viewers "to find an effective way to handle illegal websites, and those that defame our highest institution (the monarchy)", in a transcript released before the televised broadcast.
Thailand's royal family is protected by one of the world's strictest and most controversial lese majeste laws under which prosecutions have skyrocketed since the coup.
The vast majority of recent cases have been brought over comments made online -- including a record-breaking 30-year sentence for one man over the content of six Facebook posts.
Activists opposed to a single gateway have vowed to take action if the government does not cancel or review its plans by October 14.
