Twitter says it is committed to free speech as a core value after being criticized by the Thai Twitterati over its newly launched bilingual account.
After objections were raised about the @TwitterThailand logo’s resemblance to that of the ruling political party and announced government “partners,” the social media company said through a publicist that users need not worry about free expression beyond sticking to the company’s guidelines.
“Our commitment to freedom of expression is deeply embedded into our DNA as a company,” read the statement sent via a local publicity firm. “Elevating debate and open discourse is fundamental to our service, and our core values as a company. We work hard to remain unbiased with the public interest in mind.”
To describe Thai Twitter as a hotbed of die-hard progressivism and anti-government sentiments would be like saying somtam is spicy. The popularity of the platform as an outpost for fierce dissent saw many key into the new account profile’s visual similarity to the pro-establishment, military-aligned Phalang Pracharath Party.
As others pointed out, Twitter noted that the logo follows the same flag-inspired theme as its other country accounts, such as @TwitterIndia, @TwitterSG, @TwitterPH, @TwitterFrance and @TwitterUK.
User @somchaikp said people had overreacted.
“When hatred blinds your mind, nothing is right,” @somchaikp tweeted. “It is very common that national twitter accounts use their national flag colors.”
Of greater concern were fears that its government “partners” might give the authorities an inroad to interfere with one of Thailand’s few forums for unfettered speech and criticism.
Overreaction or not, online dissidents have reason to be concerned. After all, the former ruling junta aggressively pursued the “cooperation” of social media firms upon overthrowing the government in 2014. Its numerous overtures to Facebook, Google and Twitter were systematically rejected except for agreements to adhere to local law.
Twitter did not directly address concerns about its partnership with “government departments and ministries” but emphasized its collaborations with non-state players, from legal reform group iLaw and environmental group Greenpeace to the Thai Red Cross and Mirror Foundation.
“In Thailand, we work with a number of different journalistic, social activist and non-government organisations to help them with best practices to develop a more effective and engaging presence on Twitter,” it said. “We are committed to serving an open and public conversation in Thailand and will continue to be transparent in our efforts.”
While the company may be trying to have it both ways by opening a channel with the government – it noted “a lot of discussion” about its “perceived bias in Thailand” – that may not immediately satisfy those who made #WeDoNotWantTwitterThailand trend atop the hashtags since Wednesday’s announcement, with hundreds of thousands of enraged and panicked tweets.
Political scientist Prajak Kongkeerati who uses Twitter account @Bkksnow said the company misunderstood its most fervent users.
“The pros of Twitter = the platform that people can feel safe and free to speak about politics and blocked social issues (especially Thailand where it’s not democratic.) It’s not just about entertainment, sports, game, food, travel and beauty like Twitter Thailand understands it to be,” he tweeted.
Like other social media platforms, Twitter has increasingly been dragged into partisan political conflict around the world over simple matters of fact. Its libertarian-minded founder, Jack Dorsey, long resisted calls for it to police content but has since introduced policies that have invited accusations of censorship from the right.
When hatred blinds your mind, nothing is right.
It is very common that national twitter accounts use their national flag colours. #ไม่เอาทวิตเตอร์ไทยแลนด์ #ตามหาความจริง pic.twitter.com/WLJzcOnTip
— Richard Parker (@somchaikp) May 14, 2020
สิ่งที่เป็นจุดแข็งของทวิตเตอร์=การเป็นแพลตฟอร์มที่คนรู้สึกปลอดภัย+มีเสรีภาพ ในการคุยเรื่องการเมือง+ปัญหาสังคมที่ถูกปิดกั้น(โดยเฉพาะในกรณีของไทยที่ไม่เป็นปชต.) ไม่ใช่แค่การคุยเรื่องบันเทิง กีฬา เกม อาหาร ท่องเที่ยว ค.งามแบบที่ blog ทวิตเตอร์ไทยแลนด์เข้าใจ #ไม่เอาทวิตเตอร์ไทยแลนด์
— prajak kong (@bkksnow) May 14, 2020
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