YouTube Blocks Rap Song Critical of Thai Monarchy

Screenshot of “Reform” by Rap Against Dictatorship

BANGKOK — A music video by Thailand’s foremost dissent rap group was blocked by YouTube as of Monday night. 

The video hosting platform said it restricted access to Rap Against Dictatorship’s “Reform”, which discussed the ongoing campaign to reform the royal institution, due to a complaint from the Thai government.

“This content is not available on this country domain due to a legal complaint from the government,” an error message shows when attempting to access the video from Thailand.

The music video, which has English subtitles, can still be viewed with the use of a VPN. The song is still streamable on Spotify, where it has been played more than 786,000 times. 

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“Reform” has been viewed 9.7 million times since its release Nov. 13. The video features artists rapping at the pro-democracy protests in 2020, which also called for monarchy reforms.

Rap Against Dictatorship came to fame for their activist rap song “My Country’s Got” in 2018, which remains unblocked in Thailand as of publication time.