Thailand to Sue Google Over Offensive YouTube Video

BANGKOK (mathaba) -- The Thai government is to sue Google in a criminal court over internet video clips which were insulting to the His Majesty the King and the Thai People and Nation. Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom, the Minister for Information, Communications and Technology, said on Tuesday that the law suit will charge that YouTube, the video sharing website owned by Google, hosted video clips offensive to King Bhumibol Adulyadej. He said he would file the suit at the Bangkok criminal court on Friday. It was not clear whether the US-based internet giant would be charged with lese majeste (injuring the monarchy), defamation or a violation of laws governing internet use. "Those clips are very harsh to the feelings of Thai people and our culture, and foreigners will never understand," Sitthichai said. Neither YouTube nor Google has offices in Thailand, although the parent company does business with many Thai-based websites and businesses. Google does offer a Thai language portal to its popular search engine. It set up an office in Singapore last week to expand its advertising profile in South-East Asia. 'Playing a game' Commenting on the government's decision to proceed with a legal case against Google, Sitthichai said officials were examining whether a suit could be filed in an international court. He said a YouTube email request for the Thai government to "send it the controversial clips as evidence so it will remove them" showed that the company was "playing a game". YouTube never removed the video, it was the individual who posted the video who had removed it himself, whilst leaving behind a still image that was still offensive. Mathaba News Network has called for solidarity with Thailand in boycotting YouTube, due to the xenophobic arrogance displayed by the company throughout the incident, that showed near total ignorance of foreign cultures and sensitivities. The minister has argued that Google ignored Thailand's petition because it is a small country, while it had bowed to Chinese requests to block certain topics by deemed by Beijing to be politically sensitive, such as references to democracy. The ministry has blocked all access to YouTube from Thailand since April 4, shortly after the first offensive clip appeared on the popular website which relies on contributions from the public. But the publicity and lack of control by YouTube has led to more than a dozen further offensive video clips against the Thai People, Nation and King being uploaded to YouTube.