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Thai crackdown on Facebook remarks on king
Sydney Morning Herald - November 26, 2011
The prosecution of a Thai-born US citizen who has pleaded guilty to translating a banned biography of King Bhumibol Adulyadej has signalled that authorities are also targeting lese-majeste offences committed overseas.
Thailand's Information and Communications Technology Minister, Anudith Nakornthap, says that even though Facebook clicks of "like" or "share" are only done to show support for messages, they could violate laws that carry sentences of three to 15 years jail for each charge.
Authorities in Thailand have asked Facebook to delete more than 10,000 pages of content as computer technicians in Bangkok scour the internet for royal insults. "We have informed Facebook and sought their assistance in deleting content which is offensive to our monarchy," Mr Anudith said.
Under Thai law, people face lese-majeste charges if they insult the king, queen, heir or regent. Even repeating details of an alleged offence is illegal.
The Computer Crimes Act also carries five-year jail terms for digital dissemination of information that threatens the security of the country or violates the "peace and concord or good morals of the people".
Public criticism of King Bhumibol, the world's longest-serving monarch, is rare in Thailand. In the past four years, authorities have blocked more than 70,000 internet pages, most for insults to the monarchy, officials say.
The Asian Human Rights Commission has expressed "grave concern" over the latest conviction and sentence of a person for lese-majeste, Ampon Tangnoppakul, 61, a retired truck driver and grandfather suffering from cancer. He wept this week after being sentenced to 20 years jail for sending "vulgar" text messages judged to be insulting to Queen Sirikit.
Human rights groups estimate that more than 300 lese-majeste charges that have been laid in Thailand since 2006. They include Australian English-language teacher Harry Nicolaides, who was sentenced to six years in jail, commuted to three years on pleading guilty, over a book hardly anyone read. Only 50 copies were published. He received a royal pardon in February 2009 and was deported.
A Thai-born US citizen, Joe Gordon, 55, was detained in Thailand in May for translating the book about King Bhumibol in the US where he had lived for 30 years. He had returned to Thailand temporarily for medical treatment. Gordon, who pleaded guilty to a lese-majeste charge in October hoping for a lenient sentence, is awaiting sentencing.
The webmaster of the Thai website Prachatai, Chiranuch Premchaiporn, is on trial over comments posted on the site that were deemed insulting to the monarchy. Ms Chiranuch, 44, told the court she regularly read through the thousands of items posted daily on the message board and deleted potentially offensive messages when she found them. Prosecutors allege she did not act quickly enough.
Ms Chiranuch was recently awarded the Hellman-Hammett award given annually to writers or activists for expressing freedom of expression.
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