Small anti-coup protests have continued in the Thai capital, Bangkok, despite a warning from the country's new military rulers.
Hundreds of demonstrators chanted "Get out" and marched through the streets.
Gatherings of more than five people were banned after the army seized power on Thursday.
Earlier, 18 newspaper editors were summoned by the military
in its latest move to limit criticism and forestall opposition to its
rule.
An army spokesman in Bangkok said normal democratic principles could not be applied at the current time.
Protesters defied a ban on large gatherings to denounce the coup
At the scene: Jonathan Head, BBC News, Bangkok
Much about this coup has been textbook predictable; the
curfew and censorship, the stiff military pronouncements and martial
music on our TV channels. And then there is the unexpected; nervous and
well-armed soldiers surrounding a city-centre branch of McDonald's.
Inside, to the bewilderment of customers lining up for
their lunch, a handful of protesters yelled their opposition to the coup
through the glass doors. Outside, the soldiers took up positions. One
of their trucks started blaring out patriotic songs to try to drown out
the protesters.
More protesters arrived, confronting the troops, who
seemed unsure what to do; they were blockading a fast-food restaurant
that had several other entrances, and was not actually being targeted by
anyone. One young soldier was close to tears, after demonstrators
screamed in his face. It was brutally hot too.
This is not like the last coup. There is more anger, more
tension. The protests have been small so far - just a few hundred
people. But they could grow. And the military is jittery. The potential
for more dangerous confrontations is real.
Dozens of people, including prominent academics and activists, have been ordered to report to the military.
Former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, removed from power by the judiciary earlier this month, has been detained.
Earlier reports said she had been released. But the
Associated Press quoted her aide as saying she had been moved but not
freed.
Army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha, who now leads a junta known
as the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), dissolved the
Senate on Saturday, the final remnant of the pre-coup legislature.
Outspoken columnist Pravit Rojanaphruk from The Nation
newspaper was among those summoned on Sunday. "On my way to see the new
dictator of Thailand. Hopefully the last," he tweeted.
Scuffles broke out as angry protesters confronted soldiers tasked with containing their rally
Correspondents say some young troops showed the strain of confronting the anger of the protesters
Scuffles broke out with soldiers as anti-coup protesters gathered for a third day in defiance of the military's martial law.
"We have to continue protesting to show our opposition to the coup," one demonstrator told the Associated Press.
"We don't have leaders. We are against the coup and we come because we want to."
The army chief is due to receive royal endorsement on Monday.
The ruling junta is then expected to set up a national legislative
assembly which will draw up a temporary constitution with a new prime
minister.
Key coup conditions
Curfew nationwide from 22:00 to 05:00
Gen Prayuth to head ruling National Peace and Order Maintaining Council
Senate and courts to continue operating
2007 constitution suspended except for chapter on monarchy
Political gatherings of more than five people banned, with
penalties of up to a one-year jail term, 10,000 baht ($300; £180) fine,
or both
Social media platforms could be blocked if they carry material with provocative content
Media warned not to carry criticism of army operations
There has been a power struggle since Ms Yingluck's brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, was ousted by the military as PM in 2006.
Mr Thaksin and Ms Yingluck have strong support in rural areas but are opposed by many in the middle class and urban elite.
The latest unrest began last year, when anti-government protesters embarked on a campaign to oust Ms Yingluck.
An election was held in February but was disrupted and later annulled by the judiciary.
BANGKOK — Thailand’s
military junta on Saturday ordered two dozen professors and writers to
turn themselves over to the military authorities, broadening a sweep in
which nearly 200 political officials have already been detained, and
sent more troops into the streets of Bangkok and other cities to
discourage protests.
The
Pentagon, responding to Thursday’s military coup, announced Saturday
that it was halting a military exercise with Thai armed forces that was
already underway and canceling the visit here of a top American admiral.
The Obama administration, which suspended military aid to Thailand last
week, called off other projects for police and military cooperation.
The
junta continued to consolidate power, “terminating” the upper house of
Parliament and purging the bureaucracy of senior officials who were seen
as allies of the deposed government.
The military said Saturday that the detained politicians, including former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra
and other leaders of the former governing party, were being held to
give them “time to think.” A spokesman for the junta declined to say
when they would be freed.
Nearly 200 people have been summoned for detention by the Thai military.Credit
Wason Wanichakorn/Associated Press
The
two dozen scholars and writers who were summoned Saturday also appeared
to be supporters of the former government; most were advocates of
elections, which a protest movement led by the Bangkok establishment had
blocked.
The
commander of Thailand’s army overthrew the country’s elected government
on Thursday, a move applauded by members of the Bangkok establishment
but one that risks a violent backlash from voters in northern Thailand
who supported the overthrown government.
The
junta said Saturday that it had discovered a cache of weapons in the
northeastern city of Khon Kaen and had arrested members of a group it
said was planning acts of sabotage.
The
military also faced a spike of violence in Thailand’s troubled deep
south, where an insurgency has raged for a decade. At least two people
were reported killed in more than a dozen explosions at convenience
stores and gas stations in the city of Pattani on Saturday night,
according to Thai news media reports.
In
Bangkok, several hundred protesters who confronted troops in Bangkok on
Saturday held up a large banner that read, “We want an election.”
The
army chief, Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, outlined the junta’s plans in a
meeting with foreign diplomats on Friday, saying that elections would be
held only when there was a “conducive” environment, according to an
account by a meeting participant.
According
to the same participant, General Prayuth said he would appoint reform
councils that would draft a new constitution and study unspecified
“social” changes. The military on Thursday voided the Constitution,
which it had helped write after a previous coup in 2006.
In
Washington, officials said about 700 sailors and Marines were
participating in the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training exercise
when it was cut short. The annual exercise, which started on Tuesday,
was scheduled to run through May 28 as the first of nine bilateral
exercises the Navy conducts with maritime forces in Southeast Asia.
The
Pentagon also announced that it was canceling a visit to Thailand by
Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., the commander of the Navy’s Pacific Fleet. In
addition, the Defense Department rescinded an invitation for a senior
Thai commander to visit the military’s Pacific Command in Hawaii next
month.
“As
we have made clear, it is important that the Royal Thai armed forces
end this coup and restore to the people of Thailand both the principles
and the process of democratic rule, including a clear path forward to
elections,” Rear Adm. John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a
statement.
In
addition, the State Department announced Saturday that it was canceling
a firearms training program for the Royal Thai police that was to start
here on Monday, as well as a trip next month by senior Royal Thai
police officials to the United States to visit F.B.I. facilities and
meet with American law enforcement officials.
The
steps taken Saturday are the Obama administration’s latest rebukes to
the Thai coup leaders. On Friday, the State Department said it had
suspended $3.5 million in financing for military sales and military
training, and was reviewing the rest of the $10.5 million in assistance
it was providing Thailand.
“We
again call on the military to release those detained for political
reasons, end restrictions on the media, and move to restore civilian
rule and democracy through elections,” Marie Harf, a State Department
spokeswoman, said in a statement.
The department also issued a warning to American citizens to “reconsider any nonessential travel to Thailand.”
The
coup has been cheered in social media messages by some Thais who see it
as a way to purge the influence of the governing party and its de facto
leader, Thaksin Shinawatra, who lives in exile and was himself ousted
in the 2006 coup when he was prime minister.
Members
of the Bangkok establishment who helped lead protests that led to
Thursday’s coup are in favor of a suspension of democracy.
Thailand’s king, Bhumibol Adulyadej, who is 86 years old and ailing, has been silent on the country’s crisis.
He
has not been seen in public since the coup. A television announcement
by the junta on Saturday featured a letter from the king’s principal
private secretary, Krit Kanchanakunchorn, saying only that the king had
been “informed.” The British news media have reported that Crown Prince
Maha Vajiralongkorn is in Britain.
As
Thais adjusted to life under military rule, questions grew about the
army’s ability to handle the complexities of governing a modern economy,
especially if there were a protracted period without a Parliament and
an elected government. After the 2006 coup a military-appointed
government was largely seen as a failure.
“It
boggles the mind that they think they can run so many government
departments,” said Nattakorn Devakula, a television host whose station
was ordered off the air by the military. “They don’t have the
expertise.”
The junta, which blocked all television stations after the coup, allowed most channels back on the air on Friday.
For
a country with a traditionally freewheeling news media, sweeping
guidelines banning unfavorable coverage of the coup were surprising.
A
prominent Thai reporter for the newspaper The Nation, Pravit
Rojanaphruk, was summoned to an army base by the junta on Saturday, and
the Thai news media reported that editors from the country’s largest
newspapers were also asked to attend a meeting with the military rulers.
The Canadian ambassador to Thailand, Philip Calvert, posted a message on Twitter saying that “friends in Beijing have more access to television news — including on the coup — than I do.”
Mr. Nattakorn, the television presenter, predicted a backlash.
“I don’t think the media will be as subservient as they think,” he said.
The junta has also struggled to respond to criticism on the Internet.
In talks with diplomats on Friday, General Prayuth said the army could block social media but had shown leniency.
On Saturday, the junta said on Twitter that it had ordered the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology to “search websites with agitating content aimed at causing confusion.”
The army was ready to “take action immediately,” message said.
Thomas Fuller reported from Bangkok, and Eric Schmitt from Washington.
A version of this article appears in print on May 25, 2014, on page A10 of the New York edition with the headline: Junta Targets Scholars for New Detentions as Thai Forces Are Sent to Protests. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe
Andrew Walker, 25 May 2014 Thailand’s military coup is an invitation to violence.
When army supremo General Prayuth Chan-ocha seized power last
Thursday he demonstrated to the Thai people that might is right. Talk of
a non-violent coup
is nonsense. Prayuth succeeded because he could mobilise overwhelming
force and issue a compelling threat of violence to anyone who opposed
him.
Thailand, and the world, is now waiting to see how the red-shirt supporters of the deposed government will react.
Their patience must be exhausted.
Many supporters of Thailand’s former Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra – who was overthrown in the last coup in 2006 – must be
wondering if the electoral process can ever deliver them the outcome
they desire.
Since 2001 they have gone to the polls, in a peaceful and orderly
manner, six times: 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2011 and, most recently, in
February this year. Every time they have elected Thaksin or one of his
political allies. Thaksin’s majority in 2005 was the strongest in the
modern history of Thailand. His sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, achieved
the second largest majority in the election of 2011.
Thailand’s electoral system certainly has its faults but there is no
credible commentator who would argue that these pro-Thaksin electoral
victories did not represent the genuine will of the people.
These electoral judgements have been consistently subverted by the
interventions of the courts, royalist yellow-shirt protesters and the
military.
In the wake of last Thursday’s coup, hardliners among the red shirts
will now be arguing, on good evidence, that electoral democracy in
Thailand is a dead end. Red-shirt radicals will welcome the opportunity
the military has provided for a show of force. Unfortunately, it is an
opportunity that some will seize.
Thailand has arrived at this depressing juncture due to the failures of two of its central institutions.
King Bhumibol Adulyadej is certainly widely respected throughout
Thailand for his good works and personal sacrifice, but Thailand’s
democratic failure is the most striking legacy of his long reign.
For decades, anti-democratic forces in Thailand have been able to use
the image of a virtuous monarch to undermine the credibility of elected
politicians. A long series of military coups have been staged in the
name of the king, in order to protect the country from the depredations
of corrupt politicians. Bhumibol has never used his pre-eminent national
stature to challenge the use of military force to overthrow an elected
government.
He has consistently permitted anti-democratic acts to be staged in his name.
Since General Prayuth’s seizure of power last Thursday there has not
been one word from the palace about the importance of protecting
Thailand’s democratic system. In the king’s much anticipated birthday
speech, which brought about a temporary truce in political conflict last
December, there was plenty of talk of the need for national unity but
one very important and potentially influential word was missing:
democracy.
In fact, in the last few months the most active royal presence in
Thailand’s political scene has been one of the king’s daughters who has
openly supported protesters calling for the overthrow of an elected
government.
What Thailand desperately needs now is not unity but strong
institutions that can peacefully manage disagreement. Thailand’s
over-investment in the monarchy as a symbol of national unity means that
institutions that can constructively manage conflict have never been
able to flourish.
The second core institutional failure that Thailand now confronts is
the weakness of its opposition. This may seem like a strange claim to
make given that opposition forces have succeeded in precipitating the
overthrow of the government. But this outcome is a result of opposition
weakness, not strength.
Thailand’s main opposition party, the Democrat Party, has not been
able to form government as a result of an election in almost a quarter
of a century. Since 2001 they have been comprehensively outperformed by
the electoral appeal of Thaksin’s populist agenda for modernisation,
economic growth and grass-roots development.
Demoralised by their repeated failures the Democrats have now given
up on the democratic process. They have shied away from party reform,
given up on developing new policy platforms that could have broader
electoral appeal and baulked at the long-term effort required to match
Thaksin’s grass-roots mobilisation.
Instead, a weak and ineffectual Democrat Party has set out on a
mission of democratic destruction. They boycotted the election held
earlier this year because they knew they could not match Yingluck’s
electoral appeal. They did the same in 2006, unwilling to take on
Thaksin at the ballot box. In both cases, the Democrat’s electoral
sabotage set the stage for the military to stage a coup shortly
afterwards.
It is hard to see how Thailand can
make its way out of this political mess. With a very real risk of
violent confrontation with red-shirt forces, General Prayuth is keen to
establish his authoritarian credentials. He has already detained
political leaders, arrested anti-coup protestors and summoned critics to
army headquarters. There is no talk of a new election and, with Thaksin
still electorally dominant, a return to democracy is likely to be a
long way off.
Ultimately the coup will achieve nothing, as it did in 2006. Heavy
handed military action may succeed in driving Thaksin and his allies out
of politics once and for all. But it won’t be able to reverse the
social and economic transformations that have built the base of
Thaksin’s political support.
A meaningful transition to political stability will require a
re-appraisal of the central role of the monarchy, a new culture of
respect for electoral and parliamentary institutions, and the
development of a modern opposition party that can provide the Thai
electorate with real policy alternatives.
That is an agenda that military men are incapable of pursuing.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. State Department says it has suspended $3.5 million in military aid to Thailand.
Spokeswoman Marie Harf announced the step Friday, a day after the Thai military seized power in a coup.
Harf said the department is still reviewing a further $7 million in
bilateral assistance to Thailand, and aid from other global and regional
programs.
She said the suspended programs are Foreign Military Financing that funds weapons sales, and the International Military Education and Training program for training of officers.
Thailand is a U.S. treaty ally and close military partner.
Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday said there was no
justification for the coup that followed months of political turmoil in
Thailand. He urged the immediate restoration of civilian government and a
return to democracy.
With most television and radio stations either shut down or presenting official announcements, opponents of the coup have taken to the streets and the internet to express their grievances.
About 50 people, including students, led by the Thammasat for Democracy group, marched from the university to Democracy Monument in a
symbolic protest against the takeover led by Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha, the national army chief.
By evening, the number of people joining the anti-coup march rose to about 400.
Another 100 activists rallied in front of the Bangkok Arts and Cultural Center (BACC), where they had also gathered on Tuesday when the military invoked martial law.
The activists, comprising freelance and independent media, artists and social activists, read a statement and lit candles at the downtown site, which has been used on several occasions as a rallying point for those who want an election to resolve the continuing political conflict.
After the military took control of mainstream broadcasting early Thursday evening, use of social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter and Line began to spike, as those opposing the coup expressed their grievances.
Human rights activists and lawyers have also issued a statement expressing concern about curbs on expression.
Nitirat, also known as the Enlightened Jurists founded by Thammasat University law lecturers, has strongly condemned the coup. The group said it was disrespectful and trampled on the people's right to make their decisions about government according to the democratic system.
The Nitirat statement was signed by four core members: Thammasat University Assoc Prof Worachet Pakeerut, Assoc Prof Prasit Piwawattanapanich, lecturer Piyabut Saengkanokkul, and Asst Prof Thira Suthiwarangul. They also condemned efforts to oppose the 1997 Constitution which they said was a real social contract for Thai society.
The 1997 Constitution was superseded by a charter drafted after the 2006 military coup and approved by 52% of the voters in a referendum. That charter has now been suspended by the 2014 coup makers.
The Nitirat scholars also condemned the infringement of freedom of expression, especially the curbs on dissenting views against the coup in media coverage.
They also called for the military to adhere to human rights principles, amid reports that some people who staged protests against the coup had been detained.
The four academics called for the return to democratic normalcy under the constitutional monarchy with respect for human rights and the liberty of the people.
The People's Movement for a Just Society (P-Move) also condemned the coup. It has encouraged people to stage civil disobedience against orders of the National Peace and Order Maintaining Council (NPOMC).
The Human Rights Lawyers Association, Cross Cultural Foundation, Union of Civil Liberties and the Enlawthai Foundation have also called for the return to a civilian democratic regime and for the military to go back to the barracks.
Sombat Boon-ngam-anong, dubbed Bor Kor Lai Jud, has used social media in calling for coup protesters to wear red on Sunday and to meet at McDonald's at the Ratchaprasong intersection or at any fast food shops in provinces.
More civic groups were also planning defiance against the coup orders. On Tuesday activists will mobilise people to read in front the novel 1984 by George Orwell in front of the BACC.
Soldiers swept into the streets of Bangkok, protest leaders were
rounded up and international TV networks went dark Thursday after a
military coup pitched Thailand into an unsettling new period of
political uncertainty.
The coup was bloodless as of Friday
morning, but it marked a risky play by the Thai military to take over a
polarized country with an already feeble democracy and a beloved but
ailing king.
In launching the coup, the Thai military swiftly
detained or marginalized the key players in months of turmoil. The
military has ordered recently deposed prime minister Yingluck
Shinawatra, as well as dozens of her powerful relatives, to appear at an
army facility Friday morning.
U.S. officials quickly condemned
the takeover and warned that they were reviewing military and other
assistance to Thailand. The coup could inflame tensions by eliminating
an elected government and sidelining a boisterous opposition group.
Months
of tensions have already battered Thailand’s tourism-based economy, but
the coup quickly darkened one of Southeast Asia’s most vibrant
capitals. The army announced a nationwide curfew from 10 p.m. until 5
a.m., in effect until further notice. Commuters scrambled to get home
Thursday, and soon after dinner, only a few confused tourists were still
out on the streets.
Thailand's military seized power on Thursday in a bloodless coup,
dissolving the government, suspending the constitution and dispersing
groups of protesters from both sides of the country's political divide.
(Associated Press)
In a
televised announcement, Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, commander in chief of
the Royal Thai Army, said the coup would help a fractious country
“return to normal quickly” after months of political instability. “The military has to return peace and order to the country as soon as possible,” Prayuth said.
Soon
after the coup, the military said it had suspended the constitution,
dismissed the caretaker government and ordered cabinet ministers to turn
themselves in. Prayuth was proclaimed the head of a council that will
temporarily run the country.
Meanwhile,
soldiers went to various pro- and anti-government sites across the
capital, Bangkok, detaining some of the leaders deemed responsible for
Thailand’s protracted political crisis.
Although
the extent of military control of the country was not immediately
evident, initial reports indicated that troops were able to clear
protest sites in a fairly orderly manner.
In
Washington, Secretary of State John F. Kerry said that “there is no
justification for this military coup” and warned that there would be
“negative implications for the U.S.-Thai relationship, especially for
our relationship with the Thai military.”
In
a statement, Kerry said he was concerned by reports that senior
political leaders had been detained and that news media outlets had been
shut down. “I urge the restoration of civilian government immediately, a
return to democracy, and respect for human rights and fundamental
freedoms, such as press freedoms,” he said.
Thailand is notorious for its political instability and periodic military takeovers.
Since the establishment of a constitutional monarchy in 1932, there
have been 12 successful coups and seven attempted ones. But Thailand now
finds itself at a particularly dangerous moment, and some analysts warn
that its intensifying divisions could lead to armed clashes or, in the
worst case, civil war.
Seized at peace talks
The
Thai military launched its coup Thursday under the guise of peace
talks, which it was brokering. For the second day in a row,
representatives from both sides of the country’s main political divide
showed up at a military site in the afternoon. This time, according to
local media reports, at least some were not allowed to leave, and other
protest leaders were soon rounded up across Bangkok.
Among
those detained was Suthep Thaugsuban, the leader of the anti-government
movement. The pro-government group, known as the “red shirts,” said on
Twitter that some of its leaders were also detained.
The
coup comes two days after the military declared martial law, pledging
that it would not remove the government. In imposing martial law, the
military cited a century-old law that gave it broad powers to censor the
media, detain civilians and outlaw meetings or assemblies.
For the past half-year, Thailand has been nearly paralyzed by a conflict that has left about 30
people dead and hundreds injured. The conflict, at its core, is a power
struggle between rural voters in the vast northern part of the country
and urban elites in Bangkok. The rural voters outnumber the urban ones,
and over the past 13 years, they have found a political party they love.
Again and again they vote it into office, even as the party cycles
through leaders. And again and again, those leaders are ousted by court
rulings or coups.
The conflict is testy,
because both sides have major grievances. Those who oppose the ruling
party, now known as the Pheu Thai, say it is ruled by a de facto
strongman, Thaksin Shinawatra, who has let corruption run rampant and
consolidated power in his family and cronies.
Thaksin’s
supporters say the country has found dubious ways to oust a
democratically elected party. He was removed as prime minister by a military coup in 2006 and now lives in Dubai.
His
sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, became prime minister in 2011 when Pheu
Thai won general elections. But she was booted from office two weeks ago
after Thailand’s Constitutional Court found her guilty of abuse of
power.
Coups in Thailand are often
bloodless, but this is the first to come at a time when the country’s
beloved king, Bhumibol Adulyadej, 86, appears too ill to play his
traditional mediator role.
Opposition to
Yingluck mounted late last year when the parliament attempted to pass
legislation that would have given amnesty to Thaksin and others facing
political charges.
After the
implementation of martial law Tuesday, the military set up what it
described as a “Peace and Order Maintaining Command.” A day later, the
military summoned representatives from the caretaker government as well
as the two major rival political factions for supposed peace talks.
On Thursday, the attendees were taken into custody. Video
from the scene shows Suthep, the anti-government protest leader, being
hustled into a white van and driven away.Thailand’s caretaker prime
minister — Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan, who replaced Yingluck — did not
attend the meetings. Niwattumrong was not detained in any of the
subsequent roundups, but some news media reports said he had been
ordered to turn himself in.
Early
Friday, Bangkok was business as usual, as Thais drove, biked, taxied
and took public transportation to work. The only hints that something
was awry were the comparatively minor traffic jams and the fact that
schools and educational institutions are closed through Sunday.
Locals and foreigners alike were out and about, many seemingly oblivious to the coup.
Three
20-something Americans, Texans who teach English in Thailand, strolled
around the central business district Two had arrived the day the coup
was launched.
“If you didn’t have the news
on you’d never know there was a coup,” said Michael, who has been in
Thailand one year and did not want to reveal his last name.
Samuels reported from Bangkok. Karen DeYoung in Washington contributed to this report.
A screengrab from the petition page on Change.org.
People have had enough. After years of “citizen journalism” platform STOMP indulging in public shaming, a petition
has popped up on Change.org asking Singapore Press Holdings – the owner
and publisher of the website – to shut it down. Started by Robin Li,
the petition now has over 22,000 signatures.
The response from both SPH and the Media Development Authority (MDA) has been lukewarm. The MDA took the opportunity to ask people to propose stronger regulatory measures of licensed websites. An editor of the digital media
group at SPH’s Digital Division portrayed the issue as one of “freedom
of the Internet”, accusing the anti-STOMP camp of hypocrisy. SPH questioned
the support the petition is receiving, alleging that the petition could
have been astroturfed and that its support base could actually be much
smaller. “Under the circumstances, the number of petitioners being cited is likely to be grossly inflated,” said their spokesperson Ginny Lim.
@kixes absolutely atrocious. I take it hugely as an insult. The same can be said for those “Stomp” likes on FB which is unreliable
— Robin Li (@thoughtsovrobin) April 18, 2014
It is of course possible that not all of the over 22,000 signatures
are valid. There is always the potential of surveys and petitions being
astroturfed, online or offline.
But for SPH to suggest that a huge number of the signatories are
false is a weak defense of STOMP. We may quibble about the exact number
of signatures on the petition, but SPH is delusional if they do not
realize that the opposition to STOMP is significant. Their persistent
refusal to admit that there is anything wrong with STOMP casts doubt on
their integrity as a media organization; something that ultimately hurts
not just its brand, but also the professional reputation of the
journalists and other employees who work within the company.
The website has already been called out for both false and bullying
posts. These are both things that fall within the remit of the MDA,
whose Internet Code of Practice
prohibits content that “glorifies, incites or endorses ethnic, racial
or religious hatred, strife or intolerance.” The MDA also already has
the power to regulate against fake content on websites. If it already
has such power, why then is it acting as if it has no knowledge of
STOMP’s problems, or that it does not have the ability to do anything
beyond issuing statements about not condoning bad behaviour?
Which is why the whole “freedom of the Internet” argument invoked by
the SPH editor is simply a red herring. It is not about free speech if
the information is false. It is not about free speech if a website is
just going to be a repository of bullying, sexism and xenophobia. The
petition is directed at SPH rather than the state, which suggests that
people are not asking the state to forcibly shut the website down. SPH
can continue to publish online, or on any of its numerous print
publications. They can even continue publishing on STOMP, but they
should know that a significant number of their customers/potential
customers want to see some changes.
The petition against STOMP has launched interesting conversations
on the media landscape in Singapore and the type of media content that
Singaporeans would like to see. Discussions – including those taking
place on international news outlets – have taken place on the role of public shaming in the media, and whether it benefits society.
It is unfortunate that SPH and MDA’s responses have indicated an unwillingness to join in on the conversation.
Protesters defied a ban on large gatherings to denounce the coup
Scuffles broke out as angry protesters confronted soldiers tasked with containing their rally
Correspondents say some young troops showed the strain of confronting the anger of the protesters
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