Thai computer crime law amendment slammed

By Max Constant

BANGKOK

A soon-to-be enacted computer crime law which punishes people in Thailand with jail terms for spreading “false information” on the internet has come under the scrutiny of rights advocates, with many agreeing that it contravenes human rights.

Sam Zarifi, Asia-Pacific regional director for the International Commission of jurists (ICJ), slammed the draft amendment during an event at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand on Monday.

“Article 14 of the draft amendment punishes with a jail term of up to five years those who import into a computer system false information or anything which may compromise national security, economic stability or may cause panic,” Zarifi said.

“This is incredibly broad. It is very vaguely worded. Who is to define ‘false information’ or ‘economic stability’?” he asked.

The draft amendment has already passed two readings at the junta-appointed legislative assembly and could be enacted in the new few weeks.

Its aim is to revise a 2007 computer crime law enacted by a previous junta who seized power in September 2006. The draft is the idea of the current military government, who overthrew the elected government of Yingluck Shinawatra and sernetized power in May 2014.

The draft also incorporates a clause aimed at punishing webmasters or Internet Service Providers (ISP) with jail terms if they don’t take down information deemed incriminating or refuse to cooperate with authorities, for instance to break encryption systems used by the internet users.

“This could be used to see bank transactions or private messaging for instance on Facebook,” underlined Arthit Suriyawongkul, director of the Citizens network, a local advocacy group for freedom of expression on the internet.

Last month, Suriyawongkul launched an online petition with Amnesty International Thailand to denounce the draft amendments.

As of the end of July, the petition had gathered over 40,000 signatures.

Sam Zarifi, an international law expert who has been working in Asia for more than 10 years, warned Thai authorities about the potential reaction by businesses if the amendments are enacted.

“Investors are very concerned about this kind of law. They don’t like to come to a market which has this,” he stated.

However, Paiboon Amonpinyokeat, a technology expert who helped draft both the 2007 computer crime law and the new amendments -- also speaking at the event -- downplayed the concerns.

“Some legal experts just don’t understand,” he said. “They misread and interpret, and then there are misunderstandings.”

As evidence of such misunderstandings, he claimed that current statistics saying 60,000 websites have been blocked by the Thai authorities in relation to lese-majeste were inaccurate.

“Technically we can only block a webpage for 90 days. So after 90 days, the page is active again, and we have to block it again. The 60,000 pages number is wrong as it includes the same pages which have been repeatedly blocked,” he underlined.

Since last year, the Thai military government has pushed the idea of a “Single Gateway,” which would see online information coming from outside Thailand go through a single gateway controlled by the authorities.

Despite initial denials, Junta leader-cum-Prime Minster Prayuth Chan-ocha has confirmed that it is on.

David Kaye, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, stated in a report earlier this year that the protection of national security “cannot be used to restrict freedom of expression unless you can demonstrate that the expression is intended to incite imminent violence”.

“The standard is pretty high and the revised Thai computer crime law fails to meet it quite extensively,” stated the ICJ's Zarifi.

“I am not at all optimistic,” he underlined.

During the event, representatives from Amnesty International Thailand distributed a statement denouncing the new draft amendments.

The group said that authorities had closed all discussions on the topic after they launched the online petition.