Thailand protests; Authorities Move to Ban Telegram Messaging App

A leaked government document ordered internet service providers in Thailand to block access to Telegram, a messaging application used by many anti-government demonstrators to coordinate their campaigns.

The “Top Secret” order seen by Khaosod English cited the emergency decree that granted security officers power to block and control any information on the internet deemed to cause unrest in the country.

The letter addressed the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission, telling the agency to pass its instructions to all service providers.

Telegram plays a major role in organizing anti-government protests in recent days. Many protesters use the application to discuss venues for rallies and skirt the government’s social media surveillance.

It is unclear whether the ban on Telegram will actually be carried out. Similar efforts initiated by the Russian government in 2018 failed to block the application.

There have been massive protests in Thailand for 5 days. Yesterday a Telegram chat was created, which we already wrote about in @tginfolive.

Almost 200,000 participants joined the chat per day. Let us remind you that for chats this is the maximum possible number of participants and there are only 100 people left until this limit is reached.