Freedom of speech reaches ‘new low’ in junta-ruled Thailand

By Amy Sawitta Lefevre BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand's military seized power last year with a promise to eventually restore democracy. On Sunday, a student was taken from hospital by plainclothes agents and charged with defaming Thailand's widely revered royalty.      On Monday, it emerged that a factory worker was charged with sedition and mocking King Bhumibol Adulyadej's dog.

Read more

China calls for Internet front to fight hacking, cyber ‘arms race’

By Paul Carsten WUZHEN, China (Reuters) – China's President Xi Jinping laid out his vision for the Internet on Wednesday, calling for a new status quo where Internet sovereignty rests in the hands of nations controlling the flow of information. “Each country should join hands and together curb the abuse of information technology, oppose network surveillance and hacking, and fight against a cyberspace arms race,” Xi told China's second World Internet Conference. Since Xi took China's helm in early 2013, he has presided over a centralization of domestic Internet governance and broader efforts to control, and often censor, the flow of information online, experts say.

Read more

Thailand scraps unpopular Internet ‘Great Firewall’ plan

Thailand's military government has scrapped a plan to create a single Internet gateway, a deputy prime minister said on Thursday, putting paid to a system aimed at allowing authorities to monitor content. The plan to consolidate Thailand's 10 Internet gateways into one central government-controlled point had been one of the government's least popular ideas since it came to power following a bloodless coup last year. Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak, a former finance minister, said the plan had been halted

Read more

Apple’s iOS App Store suffers first major attack

By Jim Finkle BOSTON (Reuters) – Apple Inc said on Sunday it is cleaning up its iOS App Store to remove malicious iPhone and iPad programs identified in the first large-scale attack on the popular mobile software outlet. It is the first reported case of large numbers of malicious software programs making their way past Apple's stringent app review process. Prior to this attack, a total of just five malicious apps had ever been found in the App Store, according to cyber security firm Palo Alto Networks Inc

Read more

U.N. urges Thailand to amend tough law on insulting royalty

By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) – The United Nations on Tuesday denounced “shockingly” long prison terms imposed by Thailand for insulting the monarchy and urged authorities to amend the law and release those convicted. Thai military courts on Friday jailed two people for insulting the monarchy, one for 30 years and the other for 28, the heaviest sentences for the crime in Thai history, lawyers and a legal monitoring group said.

Read more