In an unprecedented move for a multi-cultural tourism destination, Malaysia has begun to block Internet access to public information about HIV/AIDS and LGBT travel, effecting busy travel hubs like Kuala Lumpur's International airport and creating digital roadblocks for citizens throughout the country.

On May 4, Sinar Project, a Malaysian media watchdog, reported the country's first known online censorship of an LGBT-specific community travel website, Utopia-Asia.com, which TMNet, a Malaysian Internet Service provider, began blocking in April without explanation.

Ooni Explorer, a global observation network for detecting censorship, surveillance and traffic manipulation on the Internet, found that TMNet was engaging in DNS tampering by re-routing Utopia Asia's domain name to display a false notice and deceive customers in Malaysia into thinking those resources no longer existed.

Utopia Asia, based in Bangkok, has hosted the oldest and largest HIV/AIDS information and news archives for the region since 1995. The website also provides extensive information for travelers and locals alike, such as hotels, restaurants, NGOs, clubs and social opportunities in 20 Asian countries.

In mid-2012, Indonesian ISPs began blocking websites with non-pornographic LGBT content. In the years following, local activists and international rights organizations have sounded the alarm about growing harassment, threats, and attempts to punish or criminalize LGBT who previously were protected by law and largely accepted by tolerant traditional cultures. Now, Malaysia seems to be copycatting its neighbor. Read more via PRweb