BY MYLAH REYES ROQUE
CYBER pundits in the Philippines are keenly observing the trial in Bangkok of a Thai online journalist facing a 50-year jail term for the publication in her web forum of negative comments against the Thai royal family.
The case of Chiranuch Premchaiporn, 43, executive director and web board moderator of Thailand’s most popular independent news website, Prachatai.com, is the first time that a moderator is being sued under the Computer Crime Act 2007 (CCA). Trial began on February 4 and is expected to last until February 17.
Chiranuch is accused of having “intentionally supported or consented to” the publication of the comments critical of the royal family by not stopping the posting.
She explained that she deleted the comments as soon as the Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology (MICT) called her attention. She also said she has implemented safety measures so that the web forum won’t be open to abuse.
Lèse majesté, or bad-mouthing the monarchy, is a crime not just in Thailand but European countries like Spain, Morocco and the Netherlands. It is in Thailand, however, that such an offense is also a ground for violation of Section 14 of the Computer Crime Act. The Thai law goes one step further by making Internet Service Providers (ISPs), under which Chiranuch apparently qualifies, equally liable as the individuals who commit lèse majesté in the internet.
Cyber law expert JJ Disini, a professor at the University of the Philippines College of Law, said the Prachatai trial shows that “the easiest way for governments to regulate the internet is to go after the Internet Service Providers or ISPs rather than the content providers.” He added that this form of censorship is similar to the Egyptian government’s shutting down of all telecommunications office and the Chinese government’s euphemistically called “Chinese Great Wall.”
Chiranuch insisted in an interview a few days before the trial that the prosecution is not about her, personally. “It’s all about Prachatai; that we provide a space for anti-government forum. We make them uncomfortable and the government wants to control this space.”
Educator and Social Media Technology Consultant Joel Yuvienco says “the trial could have a chilling effect and can inspire those in power to toy around with their executive position.”
From its modest beginnings in September 2004, Prachatai became very popular in the days leading to the ouster of Thai Primne Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in 2006. Aside from news, Prachatai.com has a web board that she moderates where any individual can register and post comments.
Chiranuch says the news site now has an average of 50,000 hits daily from 15,000 IP addresses while the web forum has as much as 300,000 hits from as many as 30,000 IP addresses. Prachatai however, had voluntarily shut down the web forum since July 2010.
A Thai National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) report said there were 13.4 million Internet users in Thailand by the end of 2008, almost five times more than the number of users in 2000.
Chiranuch has become a poster girl for the emerging practice among similar strong-armed states to quell dissent in the social and news media by going after the ISPs. “It is a global trend, you target the provider and you effectively kill the roots,” she says.
Thai media lawyer Sinfah Tunsarawuth and Toby Mendel,Executive Director of the Canadian-based Centre for Law and Democracy, say the “Computer Crime Act is the single most controversial piece of legislation affecting freedom of expression since its enforcement in July 2007.”
In the same legal analysis commissioned by Thai Netizen, Sinfah and Mendel pointed out that the law, specifically Section 14, which includes offences against national security, and therefore lèse majesté, has been the single offence most frequently applied by the Thai authorities against Internet users and ISPs due in part to the recent political situation in the country.
Prachatai.com, is still a small and independent online news outfit compared to other professional media companies in Bangkok. The severity of the charges against Chiranuch, the events leading to her arrest and trial and the jampacked first hearing last February 4 underline however, the viral growth and effect of online media in a country where political tension simmers between the yellow shirts and the red shirts, or the factions supporting the monarchy and those loyal to ousted Thaksin.
The government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva cracks down on dissenters and a huge red shirt rally caused a traffic jam a few days before the trial.
Disini however is optimistic that in cyberspace, Filipinos are not likely to tolerate strong arm tactics from government and telecoms providers. “We are pretty liberal and social platforms here are very effective.” He pointed out that a single sentiment could go viral in Facebook in a short time.
Photo by Mylah Roque