Free Youth slams moves to shut down media, resurfaces with new Facebook page
The pro-democracy group Free Youth has set up a new Facebook page, “Free YOUTH V.2”, and is condemning the government for threatening media.
New National Police chief Pol General Suwat Jangyodsuk on Friday signed an official document to block access to Voice TV, Prachathai.com as well as the Facebook pages of The Reporters, The Standard and the Free Youth movement.
The reason given was that the media delivers information that is misunderstood by the public and can affect national security.
“We and other media may be shut down by the government. Moves to impede the media is the act of a dictator, not democracy as they claim,” was the message posted on Free Youth’s new Facebook page.
The group also spoke of the incident in which a Prachathai reporter was arrested on Friday, when police directed water cannons at protesters in a bid to disperse the crowds.
The reporter was released a few hours later after being fined.
Free Youth said a true democracy means a free media that can freely inform the public.
Meanwhile, assistant National Police chief Pol Lt-General Jaruwat Waisaya said there was no policy restricting the freedom of media, but that police only wanted to handle “problematic information”.