Can you imagine being put in jail for an anonymous comment left on your blog? It’s outrageous, but it’s going on in Thailand, where leading opposition journalist Chiranuch Premchaiporn (pictured here) is on trial for just that. Besides Chiranuch, countless others have been charged and jailed under the Computer-related Crimes Act. Similar laws are being looked at in other countries and we need to stop it in Thailand before it spreads. It’s time to tell the newly-elected Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to repeal the Computer-related Crimes Act and to immediately release all those jailed under its unjust provisions.
Through the ACCESS online campaigning organisation, Chiranuch, 2011 Human Rights Watch Press Freedom Award winner, is asking for our signatures on a petition.
Her appeal:
My name is Chiranuch, I am an Access member and the director of an independent online media site in Thailand (called Prachatai). I am writing to ask the Access community to sign a petition to help protect me and our global online freedom.
I need your support because my government wants to imprison me. You might be wondering what kind of person I am, and what did I do wrong? I manage an online discussion forum and was arrested not for anything I wrote, but for comments made by an anonymous poster on my website. Yes, I am on trial for words expressed by someone I do not know. The Thai Computer-related Crimes Act holds webmasters like me criminally liable for all comments made by others on their site and many of us have been unjustly imprisoned under this law.
Only Thailand’s new Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, has the power to end the absurd prosecution under this law. Please sign this urgent petition, which Access is running on my behalf and the countless others like me. We need your help:
https://www.accessnow.org/comments-arent-crimes
The Computer-related Crimes Act includes provisions for online “lese majeste,” an antiquated law making it illegal to say anything allegedly insulting the monarchy. There has been a 1,500% increase in the prosecution of “lese majeste” since 2005, which the government has been using as cover to crackdown on the opposition.
So, because I did not delete comments violating “lese majeste” quickly enough, I could spend decades in jail. Even though Prime Minister Shinawatra said she did not want “misuse” of the law, her new government has not done anything to stop unjust crackdowns.
We have tried to fight this law at home (as we speak I am in the courtroom). But now with a new Prime Minister, we think that international pressure might force the government to reconsider this problematic law and even drop the charges against me.
But this petition is not just about me. If the process of holding webmasters liable for the comments of others spreads to other countries (which is very likely pending the outcome of my case), it would spell the end of our favorite discussion forums, news sites and social networks. No one anywhere would be brave enough to host sites for fear of the liability they would face. Right now, many countries are considering such a law and are watching my case with interest, which is why we need to stop it in Thailand. Please put your name below:
https://www.accessnow.org/comments-arent-crimes
We are frightened of being active online BUT it won't stop us from our free and fierce expression! The more they arrest us, the more like a circle or wheel we become, driving us to liberty and freedom. Thank you for putting your name to the petition to help protect me, and our global freedom.
Sincerely,
Chiranuch Premchaiporn
Director, Prachatai
