Police to monitor what public reads on web: Editorial

How does public know what content is illegal? What about all the other laws that need enforcing? Questions asked in a crackdown that has spiraled out of control.

EDITORIAL: CENSORSHIP, POLICING & THE LAW

Police to monitor what public reads on web: Crackdown out of control

24/05/2017

Last week, the chief of the police Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) said his force will begin action against internet users who even view a forbidden web page or social media post.

Pol Lt Gen Thitirat Nongharnpitak seems to want to warn Thai people against the spread of lese majeste (LM) material and online content.

Still, he should withdraw this threat, as it is the wrong way to proceed.

As was virtually assured from the start, but now we know for sure that authorities now have gone unacceptably overboard in their censorship.

ARE THERE NOT OTHER LAWS THAT NEED TO BE ENFORCED TOO? 

Devoting an ever increasing share of the country's law enforcement resources to one law enforcement problem seems counterproductive in the long-run. 

Pol Lt Gen Thitirat's threat is also rather questionable. He told this newspaper that the CIB aims to "track down producers of illegal content".

The CIB even getting involved in online offences at seems like overkill.

EXCUSE FOR POLICE NOT DOING THEIR JOB?

The general trend of lese majeste law enforcement is to make very act of questioning the police a violation of the law in itself.

So the question arises of whether lese majeste law is actually an excuse for the police not doing their job, for not addressing the myriad problems that law enforcement faces in Thailand.

The irony is that even suggesting this, as has just been done here and as would be done in any reasonable debate on an issue, might be a punishable crime.

And since public oversight is essential in the proper and efficient functioning of government, public discourse and debate on issues of concern to the nation may have already passed the point of no return.

PLEASE ENFORCE BASIC TRAFFIC LAWS ALSO

After all, there are so many areas of law enforcement that are lacking even basic law enforcement such as the enforcement of basic traffic laws.

Everyday we read of the senseless deaths of ordinary people in traffic accidents from reckless and unsafe driving. Everyday we encounter it on the road.

The police simply seem to unable to deal with or stop this reckless driving (see commentary in Bangkok Post today here).

At many intersections in Bangkok one can see waves of motorcycles running red lights together while the one token police officer sits in a booth and looks on while hundreds of people drive recklessly through the intersection and break the law.

The CIB will join the long list of other lese majeste "detectives" enforcing the LM laws including:

1. The army,

2. The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC),

3. The Ministry of Digital Economy and Society,

4. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs,

5. The Ministry of Defence,

6. The National Intelligence Agency (NIA),

7. The CIB's parent Royal Thai Police (RTP) Bureau,

8. The CIB's "brother" the technology police, and...

9. The Thai Internet Service Provider Association (TISPA) and others.

SURVEILLANCE & IDENTIFICATION: MERELY LOOKING WILL BE A CRIME

This provides some focus to his threats to monitor 50 million or more Thais -- the number of computer and smartphone owners who use the internet.

The CIB has long been tasked with identifying creators of lese majeste material, going far back to the days when this was almost always foreign published books.

The police will now identify internet users who merely view illicit material online.

This is according to Pol Lt Gen Thitirat, the head of the CIB. 

By this, he made clear, he means only web pages and social media posts with illegal content related to the monarchy.

CREDIBILITY GAP: PUBLIC DOES NOT BELIEVE POLICE & MILITARY ANYMORE

This puts the CIB and the police in uncharted waters, and raises two vital questions.

The first question is how this can be accomplished.

Police and the military government have denied they have purchased and installed any surveillance software.

While few believed the previous denials in view of reports from foreign software vendors,

Pol Lt Gen Thitirat appears to be confirming that such software is in place and under the control of the CIB.

Similarly, few believe the denials that the government is working towards opening a single internet gateway to make such spying on all citizens much easier.

In other words, the military government has worked itself into a position in which people simply do not believe it anymore, a credibility crisis in which people routinely question everything it says.  

HOW IN THE WORLD WOULD THE PUBLIC KNOW WHAT CONTENT IS ILLEGAL?

For the millions of Thais who use the internet, there is a more pertinent question.

Pol Lt Gen Thitirat said specifically his anti - lese majeste investigators plan to target internet users who only see a web page or post that is illegal.

The obvious question is how any person would know that he is accessing forbidden material before he sees it.

Again, even asking this logical question might, in fact, be illegal, since it questions the power of the police.

LIST OF BANNED WEBSITES & FACEBOOK PAGES IS TOP SECRET

The list of banned websites and Facebook posts is top secret and unavailable outside a tiny circle.

Both the government and the NBTC have bragged that they have removed access to 6,000 web pages and had Facebook block dozens or hundreds of posts.

HOPELESS WAR AGAINST AUTOMATED LM CLICKBAIT IN OTHER LANGUAGES

It is true that hundreds of new web pages have sprung up by mostly "clickbait" sites and the like to mirror the already banned sites.

Click baits sites are often created automatically by computers that no human can dream to keep pace with and what of LM posts in other languages that Thais cannot understand.

The thousands of government, military and police employees trying to monitor and block such sites are hopelessly behind.

And since this banned, anti-monarchy material is now available on sites even the government doesn't know about, why should citizens be held responsible if they only click and look at such content?

INTIMIDATING NETIZENS INTO PRE-CENSORING CONTENT IS A HOPELESS STRATEGY

The always questionable campaign to clean the internet of nasty material now is out of control.

Pol Lt Gen Thitirat and colleagues are simultaneously trying to intimidate all internet users while demanding they also perform the impossible task of pre- censoring themselves.

The righteous campaign to enforce the law has got out of hand and the regime must rethink its tactics.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/1255214/crackdown-out-of-control

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