Updated: Lese majeste, war rooms and censoring 20,000 web pages
Also available as: Majestätsbeleidigung, War Room und 20.000 gesperrte Webseiten
Update: We have fixed the link. Apologies for the error.
PPT readers will be interested in a new Reuters report (18 December 2009: “Thailand in online crackdown as tensions simmer”) by Ambika Ahuja on Thailand’s Computer Crimes law and lese majeste. We won’t summarize it all or go over already well-known aspects of the story. Rather, we highlight several points.
The Computer Crime Act, passed by a military-installed government after the 2006 coup is described by critics as a “witch hunt law” that is used “against political dissidents with provisions so vague they could be used against any web surfer.”
It is stated that the “the crackdown on free speech in part reflects fear of Thaksin [Shinawatra] and his supporters, some of whom are accused of harboring a republican agenda, which they deny.”
Aree Jiworarak, head of Thailand’s information technology supervision office is cited as saying that: “Since 2007, Thai authorities have blocked almost 20,000 Web pages deemed insulting to the monarch…”. Aree says that his “war room” is staffed “around the clock by a team of bilingual civil servants and young professionals, tackles ‘systematic attempts’ to undermine the throne…”. While Aree admits that court orders are required to “shut most websites,” for those deemed “offensive to the monarchy, his office approaches Internet Service Providers to block access before getting an official court order.” What are laws for if they aren’t ignored. PPT is adding the emphasis here.
Aree and the team claim to find some 100 offending pages a day and claims that the censorship is “not just about national security. It’s about the hurt feelings among Thai people. Service providers cooperate because they love the country, too” according to Aree. In fact, though, service providers feel that have to co-operate or face severe penalties.
The articles says that some “rights groups said the use of the computer law may have gained prominence recently because authorities may be less inclined to use its harsh lese majeste laws on web surfers.” PPT thinks this is not the reason for using the computer crimes law, which is, in any case, harsh. In fact, we think it is used to avoid the negative international criticism that comes with the use of the lese majeste law. This is a deliberate and considered strategy that the Abhisit Vejjajiva government has put in place.
According to this report, the police say the computer crimes law “is crucial and effective.” Police Lt.-General Tha-ngai Prasjaksattru, head of the Criminal Investigation Bureau is cited: “We don’t want to have to invoke his majesty to prosecute cases which obviously threaten national security…”. Further: “We don’t need to say it’s libel because we have a law that says spreading lies online is a crime.”
So simple and it avoids all that negative publicity.
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