Media curbs tightened in SE Asia - rights group

HONG KONG, Feb 6 (Reuters) Tighter curbs are being placed on the media across Southeast Asia, and China will likely pursue its crackdown on Internet reporting, a U S-based media rights group today said.

The greatest setback to press freedom came in Thailand, following a 2006 coup that brought greater pressure to bear on journalists, said Bob Dietz, the Asia Programme coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

''We see things getting worse,'' he told reporters. ''In Southeast Asia we see a disappointing media situation in a region which has shown solid economic growth.'' China's ''government will be increasingly stretched in its ability to gain control of the situation, but I expect to see Internet arrests continue''.

CPJ said 31 journalists were held in China at the end of 2006, including 19 involved in online news and commentary.

REUTERS SY RN1651