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Thailand's junta has forced a German foundation to cancel a prominent forum on media restrictions imposed since the military toppled an elected government last May.

The move is the latest sign of defensiveness by the army, which installed an interim civilian Cabinet but reserves ultimate power for itself. On Wednesday, a foreign ministry spokesman complained that a visiting U.S. State Department envoy had hurt the country's pride by calling for an end to martial law.

Germany's Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, a foundation promoting social democracy worldwide, said on its Facebook page that it would comply with a request from the junta to postpone Friday's presentation of a study on media freedom in Thailand. Requests from the junta are tantamount to orders.

The junta, officially called the National Council for Peace and Order, threatens critics with arrest under martial law. It is seeking to strengthen already harsh laws governing communication on the Internet and comments on the country's monarchy.

Manop Thip-osod, a spokesman for the Thai Journalists Association, said the group was sorry to see Friday's event postponed and was concerned about freedom of expression in the country. The association was a co-sponsor of the event, which was to have included a panel discussion.

"This is the launch of an academic work on the media that the NCPO should think about and check carefully, because to block such an event does not bode well for the country's image, which is being monitored by the international community," Manop said.

Junta spokesman Col. Winthai Suvaree said the event organizers should have provided the authorities with information about the event in advance, but because they didn't they were asked to postpone it because "we are still in a sensitive time."

The German foundation declined to comment beyond its Facebook statement. However, Manop said that according to the foundation, the military authorities said the event could cause damage and be very sensitive. While the junta has indicated that it considers almost any criticism of its actions to be potentially destabilizing, such language usually refers to cases of criticism of the monarchy.

Criticism of the monarchy is punishable by three to 15 years in prison under Thailand's longstanding lese majeste law. After last May's coup, the junta began prosecuting such cases in military courts, with no avenue of appeal. The growing number of such cases, frequently involving Internet postings, has drawn great concern from local and international rights defenders.

In other junta actions Thursday, members of the ousted government who criticized recent actions against former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra barring her from political office for five years and threatening her with criminal prosecution for a rice subsidy policy were told to report to military authorities for an "attitude adjustment." They were not detained.

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Thai Junta Blocks Discussion of Media Censorship

Amit Bareket calls it a "cat-and-mouse" game. In this instance, his company is the mouse, and the Chinese government is a giant cat.

The two sides are continually at odds, because Bareket's company, SaferVPN, is one of many that provide software tools designed to circumvent the country's notorious Internet censorship.

These tools are growing more popular in China, in spite of recent government attempts to block them, according to Bareket.

"I can tell you that more than 300 new VPN users come to our service every day in China," said Bareket, who is the spokesman at SaferVPN.

VPNs, which stand for Virtual Private Networks, are essentially tools that can let users bypass Internet censorship. For about US$6 to $10 a month, subscribers to these services in China can access blocked sites such as Facebook, YouTube and more.

But lately, China has been more aggressive in trying to disrupt these services. Last week, several VPN providers reported access problems for users. Days later, one of the country's top regulators defended the actions and signaled that the authorities were prepared to crack down further.

"As the Internet develops, and new circumstances arise, we will take new regulatory measures to keep up," said Wen Ku, a director with China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

That said, the recent disruptions haven't stopped the VPN services, only added a minor roadblock. Companies like SaferVPN still manage to bring their services to the country, and are working on new technologies to stay a step ahead of the censors.

Although VPN providers serve countries across the world, China is one of the big markets, Bareket said. SaferVPN is a smaller player, and has only several thousands of users from the country. Bareket estimated that the bigger VPN providers may have over 100,000 users in China, if not more.

In SaferVPN's case, it's not just foreigners living in China and businesses that use its service, but also local residents. VPNs became more widespread among Chinese users last year, driven mainly by regular users wanting access to site likes Facebook, Bareket said.

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VPN providers play 'cat-and-mouse' with China's growing censorship

China Cracks Down On VPN Services After Censorship
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China Cracks Down On VPN Services After Censorship - Video

In the UK, policies that restrict the flow of information across the Internet are generally met with outcry and consternation for contradicting our fundamental right of free speech, but for many individuals widespread Internet censorship is the norm.

However, online censorship is much more pervasive than one might initially think, with Ethiopia, Russia and even the UK currently listed as Enemies of the Internet by the French non-governmental group Reporters without Borders (RWB).

The most high-profile example remains of course China, which has monitored and regulated online use almost since the Internet's introduction in the country back in 1994. The Golden Shield Project, often referred to as the Great Firewall of China, was officially begun in 1998 and attempts to restrict the distribution of what it calls "sensitive" information.

Websites referring to Tibetan or Taiwan independence, the Tiananmen Square protests or freedom of speech, amongst other topics are all outlawed. Well-known Western sites such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are also banned. Despite the rise of domestic social media platforms like Sina Weibo and attempts to circumvent censorship via VPNs and proxy servers, China remains one of the most stringently censored countries in the world.

Another country influence by a Communist regime, North Korea's general level of secrecy may make its censorship programme less well-known, but in many ways it is even more authoritarian. All media is controlled by the government and estimations suggest that just four per cent of the population have Internet access.

Aside from high-ranking government officials, most citizens must use the national intranet Kwangmyong. Unsurprisingly, Kwangmyong is a heavily watered-down version of the World Wide Web, containing between 1,000 and 5,500 websites compared to a figure of more a billion than for the global Internet. As a result, the head of the Internet desk at RWB Julian Pain described North Korea as "by far the worst Internet black hole".

Aside from issues of political sensitivity, the Internet's free exchange of ideas can also place it at odds with countries that have a more strictly religious society.

In Saudi Arabia, for example, all Internet traffic first goes through a government run filter which, according to the country's Internet Services Unit, blocks all material of an "offensive or harmful nature to the society, and which violate the tenants of the Islamic religion or societal norms". In reality this often means any sites of a pornographic nature or which are supportive of LGBT rights, any found to be promoting Shia ideology, and any that are critical of the national government.

Interestingly, the government encourages the Saudi people to be complicit in the censorship programme by asking them to actively report immoral pages to the government's website. Other Middle Eastern nations known to implement at least some form of online censorship include Syria, Iran, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

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Internet censorship: The worst offenders

China is boosting internet censorship to keep people from accessing sites like Google.

HONG KONG (CNNMoney)

The action, confirmed by state media, has affected VPN providers including Astrill, Strong VPN and Golden Frog, which have all reported trouble with connectivity in China, particularly on mobile devices.

China has long blocked access to what it deems as sensitive Internet content -- political commentary, foreign news outlets and sites like Google. Access to Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are also blocked in China.

Taken together, the restrictions constitute the world's largest -- and most effective -- state-sponsored censorship program. The effort, officially called "Golden Shield," is more than a decade old.

Using a VPN allows Chinese and foreigners alike to circumvent the Great Firewall. For around $10 a month, users are able to access blocked websites, Gmail and even Netflix.

Chinese state media described the crackdown as a "healthy development" for the Internet, and one needed to shore up cybersecurity. It follows a move to tighten access to Google's email service that began late last year.

Should the VPN blackout persist -- or expand -- it would be a real headache for companies that rely on the workaround to conduct business.

Related: The Great Firewall of China is nearly complete

Winger Chen, who owns a food and beverage consulting company in China, has always "felt some frustration with [spotty connectivity]," but considers it to be "just part of doing business in China."

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China makes it harder to beat censors