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Pornhub Has Been Banned From Being Used In Thailand

Pornhub Has Been Banned From Being Used In Thailand

The country says that the porn site violates the Computer Crime Act

Rebecca Shepherd

Rebecca Shepherd

Thailand has banned the use of Pornhub and closed the worldwide site, claiming it violates the country's Computer Crime Act.

Closure orders will now appear on the site's URL as soon as people try to use it.

Shutterstock

According to CNA, Thailand's Digital Minister Puttipong Punnakanta explained the block was part of efforts to restrict access to porn and gambling websites, adding that such content is illegal under the country's cybercrime law.

As well as Pornhub, another 190 websites showing pornography have also been scrapped.

Since the ban came into force yesterday (2 November), many Thai users shared the #SavePornhub hashtag on Twitter and criticised the shutting of the site in a country that was among the Top 20 by daily traffic for Pornhub in 2019 and which has a globally known sex industry.

According to Pornhub, Thai users spent more time on the site last year, at 11 minutes and 21 seconds, than elsewhere in the world.

An activist group called Anonymous Party said: "We want to reclaim Pornhub. People are entitled to choices."

A protester outside the Ministry of Digital Economy in Thailand.
JACK TAYLOR/AFP via Getty Images

A few dozen activists protested the block outside the digital ministry, holding banners saying 'free Pornhub' and 'reclaim Pornhub'.

Internet research firm Top10VPN said it saw a spike in searches from Thailand for Virtual Private Networks (VPN), which help circumvent censorship, by 640 percent compared to the September-October daily average, after Pornhub became inaccessible from late on Monday.

LADbible has contacted Pornhub for a comment.

We wonder whether the Thai MP who was caught looking at porn on his phone in parliament will find a way around the ban.

Reporters in the gallery were able to snap Ronnathep Anuwat looking at the X-rated images for more than 10 minutes during a budget reading in Bangkok back in September.

The politician partially removed his face mask while looking at the photographs, one of which depicted a topless woman, another a woman lying naked on her side and a third a close-up of a woman's vagina.

The MP, who represents Chonburi province for ruling military Palang Pracharath Party, was subsequently confronted over his porn perusing, and while he admitted to looking at the pornographic pictures, he made a bizarre excuse as to why he scanned them for so long.

Speaking to local media, Anuwat said he received the unsolicited messages on the app Line from a girl who was 'asking for help'. He said he wanted to 'observe the environment surrounding the girl in the picture' as he feared she was 'being harassed by gangsters who had forced her to take the pictures'.

But after more than 10 minutes, he said he realised the woman was 'asking for money', so he deleted all of the images.

Featured Image Credit:

Topics: Viral, World News