Two years in prison for Thai citizen journalists

Thailand's ranking in World Press Freedom for 2017 falls 6 places to 142nd in world, as new law puts citizen journalists without license in jail for two years.

JOURNALISM & CENSORSHIP

Two years in jail proposed for reporting news without licence

26/04/2017
Online Reporters

In Thailand, journalists and news reporters will soon be required to have a licence from the government to do their jobs or face a prison term up to two years or a fine not more than 60,000 baht, or both.

This is according to the latest version of the media "reform" bill to be proposed by a reform panel.

Stiff penalties have been added to the proposed new law.

A journalist who fails to get a licence by the set deadline will face a  possible two years in jail and a fine 60,000 baht fine. 

His company, agency or organisation will also face the same penalty to prevent cases where a reporter who is fired from one place goes to work for another.

Police Major General Pisit Pao-in, deputy chairman of the mass media panel at the National Reform Steering Assembly (NRSA), said on Wednesday his committee would submit the revised bill on the "protection of rights and freedom" and "promotion of ethics and professional standards of mass media" to the NRSA for consideration on May 8-9.

OLD MEDIA WILL GET LICENSE EASILY, NOT NEW MEDIA

He added licensing shouldn't be a problem with old media --- newspapers, radio and TV -- but it won't be easy with new media.

"We define reporters as those who have the intention and continuity in reporting news to the public and earn direct or indirect revenue from doing so. The National Mass Media Professional Council will draft the details," he said, referring to the yet-to-be set up council, another contentious element of the new law.

"If they meet these criteria, they will be regarded as media."

"These include websites such as Sanook.com, Kapook.com or news apps on Line platform," he said.   

Asked whether the NRSA would revise the bill in the wake of strong opposition by the media, Mr Pisit said this was not news to him.

The 30 established mass media organisations in Thailand are against the new law.

THAILAND'S PRESS FREEDOM RANKING DROPS 6 PLACES TO 142ND

This week, Thailand’s ranking on the World Press Freedom Index for 2017 has dropped another six notches to 142nd in the world.

This is according to the latest report compiled by international non-profit organisation Reporters Without Borders (check out the index here & the Thailand page here)

The report said Thailand's score rose to 44.69 points, up by 0.16 points from 44.53 in 2016.

The lower the score, the freer the press.

In the analysis of 180 countries, Norway had the greatest press freedom, while North Korea was at the bottom.

JOURNALISTS & CITIZEN JOURNALISTS UNDER CONTINUAL SURVEILLANCE

The report noted that Thailand is ruled by a military junta, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO).

“Ubiquitous, all-powerful, and led by press freedom predator Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, the council keeps journalists and citizen journalists under permanent surveillance, often summons them for questioning, and detains them arbitrarily,” the report said.

REPRISALS FOR CRITICISM

The report said any criticism of the junta is liable to lead to violent reprisals made possible by draconian legislation and a justice system that follows orders.

It said the already feared Computer-Related Crime Act was reinforced in 2016, giving authorities even more surveillance and censorship powers (read today's article on new police wiretapping powers here).

Compared to countries in Southeast Asia, Thailand (142) is in the middle.

The rankings of other Asean countries that are better than Thailand are: Indonesia (124), Philippines (127), Myanmar (131), Cambodia (132),

The rankings worse than Thailand are: Malaysia (144), Singapore (151), Brunei (156), Laos (170) and Vietnam (175).

[Note on above diagram: The diagram describes the positive feedback loop of watchdog journalism on citizens and government officials, a process in which "citizen journalists" play an increasingly important role, citizen journalists would be outlawed and punished by prison in the upcoming law), diagram taken from Norris, Pippa. 2012. "The watchdog role of journalists: Rottweilers, Alsatians or Poodles?." Oxford Handbook of Public Accountability. Oxford: Oxford University Press, download and read paper for free here].

The criteria evaluated in the questionnaire that Reporters Without Borders include pluralism, media independence, media environment and self-censorship, legislative framework, transparency, and the quality of the infrastructure that supports the production of news and information.

From the global perspective, the World Press Freedom map (at the top of the page) is getting darker and the situation had worsened in nearly two thirds (62.2%) of the 180 countries in the index.

The colour categories are assigned as follows: good (white), fairly good (yellow), problematic (orange), bad (red) and very bad (black).   

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1239074/two-years-in-jail-proposed-for-reporting-news-without-licence

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1239603/thailands-press-freedom-drops-6-notches-to-142nd

https://rsf.org/en/ranking/2017

https://rsf.org/en/thailand

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