Pornhub's Abrupt Ban In Thailand Is Likely To Cause Widespread Civil Unread

Scores of residents in Thailand are up-in-arms after Pornhub's recent ban in the country. The reason being, as per Thailand's cybercrime laws, internet pornography as well as internet gambling are illegal. Digital minister Puttipong Punnakanta said the ban was greenlit in a bid to curtail the unrestricted access to porn and gambling websites, that flouted the country’s cybercrime law.

The implementation of the new law led to the blocking of 190 websites inside the nation's borders, Pornhub included. Scores of young adults thronged the streets that led to Punnakanta’s official address, holding placards that read, “Free Pornhub” and “Reclaim Pornhub” as they believed that as adults, they were entitled to make choices. The porn website became inaccessible to Thai users from late Monday.

While netizens took a while to digest the complete ban of the premier adult entertainment website, their displeasure was evidenced through online protests that ran with hashtags like #SavePornhub, and another that translates as #HornyPower, justifiably so, as credible stats reportedly suggest that Thailand loves its internet pornography. The ban comes as a strong blow largely because of the portal’s ranking in the country, which has a globally known sex industry. What’s more, Pornhub reportedly stated that Thai users allegedly spent more time on the site last year— at 11 minutes and 21 seconds— as compared to any other country globally. It is also alleged that the ban came forth after the website reportedly carried a few compromising royal images.

Interestingly, netizens based out of Thailand were reportedly looking for VPN access to get permitted onto (the blocked) sites. Speculations are rife that the ban is likely to evoke bouts of civil unrest, owing to the widespread furor it has already caused.

“If someone doesn’t hate the current military government, now they probably do,” tweeted a user named Jirawat Punnawat. The disapproval echoes the words of Emilie Pradichit, director of the Manushya Foundation, which campaigns for digital rights, who previously maintained that the decision showed Thailand was “a land of digital dictatorship, with conservatives in power trying to control what young people can watch, can say and can do online.”