Bangkok – Thailand’s military Government on Friday passed a controversial amendment to a cybercrime law that critics say will vastly expand the junta’s control over the internet in the country and further silence dissent.
Over 340,000 people had signed a petition opposing the amendment, saying it would pave the way for a single internet gateway into Thailand.
Critics said the new law was designed to restrict freedom of speech and expression by creating broad definitions of offences.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha defended the bill and denied that it was part of an effort to create a single gateway.
Prayut said instead the government simply needed more tools to uphold existing laws.
“The new law is aimed at protecting the public good, not a blanket permit to surveil 70 million Thai people,’’ Prayut was quoted as saying.
The amended law also called for the creation of a five-member panel with the authority to shut down any website it deems to breach “public morals,” even if the site is not illegal.
However, the panel would be appointed by the government.
Thailand has been ruled by its military since a May 2014 coup.
The country’s National Legislative Assembly (NLA) voted to approve the measure with 168 in favour and none against.
Five assembly members were absent from the vote.
“We insist that the law is important and necessary, and that we will not violate the people’s privacy,’’ chairman Pol Gen Chatchawan Suksomjit said in a live televised broadcast of the vote.
Chatchawan was president of the committee that drafted the legislation.
Authorities have intensified their crackdown on lese-majesty violations since late king Bhumibol Adulyadej died on October 13, reportedly shutting down thousands of websites and actively seeking extraditions of violators abroad.
Report says the country’s lese-majesty laws are among the strictest in the world, those found guilty of breaching them face up to 15 years in prison.