Thai webmaster faces 20 years for violating Internet laws

Reader comments allegedly defamed the monarchy

A THAI WEBSITE MANAGER is facing up to 20 years in prison for failing to remove comments that were critical of the country’s monarchy.

Chiranuch Premchaiporn, who manages the Prachatai.com website, faces 10 separate charges for not promptly deleting the messages. She has been prosecuted under the 2007 Computer Crime Act, reported the Associated Press. The Act was supposed to address hacking but is now being used to “bar circulation of material deemed detrimental to national security or that causes public panic.”

Websites like Prachatai were closed during the political unrest in Bangkok last year, after the government accused them of stirring up unrest among ‘red shirt’ protestors who wanted political change.

theinquirer.net