Facebook users in Thailand get censorship scare as website goes down temporarily

Many Facebook users in Thailand were unable to access the social networking site a day after the new military government announced an Internet crackdown, but authorities said the problem was a technical hitch. The partial blockage began Wednesday about 3 p.m. and users flocked to Twitter to report Facebook was down. Some users experienced no problems, and many of those who were blocked were able to log in again by 4:30 pm. Army spokeswoman Sirichan Nga-thong says the junta had not ordered Facebook blocked, and that a technical error at Thailand's telecommunications gateway had caused the problem. The Information and Communication Technology Ministry said Tuesday that a new national gateway was being planned to filter the Internet more effectively and that social media sites were being monitored for troublesome material. AP