A quick follow-up on my post yesterday about Thailand’s latest lèse-majesté case, in which a man has been sentenced to 20 years in jail for sending SMS messages deemed offensive to monarchy:
Today’s Bangkok Post reports:
People who press “share” or “like” buttons on Facebook in response to lese majeste-related content can violate the Computer Crime Act, Information and Communication Technology Minister Anudith Nakornthap has warned.
Although the clicks were only aimed at showing support for people who posted messages or to oppose the ill-intentioned messages, they could be considered an infraction of the law, the minister said.
The information and photos of on-line participants in such topics can be exploited by web operators who can reuse them in making “fake Facebook” pages, said Capt Anudith.
The Facebook users will then become supporters of a group or network that offend the monarch.
He advised people who pressed those buttons in Facebook to delete all their reactions and comments.
“If they don’t delete them, they can end up violating the Computer Crime Act for indirectly distributing inappropriate content,” Capt Anudith said.
(All emphasis mine.)
Meanwhile, AFP says today:
Thailand has asked Facebook to delete more than 10,000 pages which it that are “offensive” to its monarchy.
The news came a day after a Thai court jailed a man for 20 years for sending four text messages deemed insulting to the monarchy, alarming critics who say the kingdom’s strict lese-majeste laws hamper free speech.
“We have informed Facebook and sought their assistance in deleting content which is offensive to our monarchy,” the country’s information minister Anudith Nakornthap said.
Back in 2007, of course, the government blocked YouTube in Thailand due to content that ran afoul of lèse-majesté laws.
Question: Would the Thai government consider blocking Facebook in Thailand if the company doesn’t remove the material?