Thailand Sets Up Unit To Tackle Websites Insulting Royals

[george]

Thailand sets up unit to tackle websites insulting royals

BANGKOK, June 15, 2010 (AFP) - The Thai cabinet Tuesday approved the creation of a new cyber crime agency to stamp out online criticism of the revered monarchy.

The government, which has removed tens of thousands of web pages in recent years for insulting the royal family, said the main task of the Bureau of Prevention and Eradication of Computer Crime would be to protect the monarchy.

"The monarchy is crucial for Thai national security because it is an institution that unifies the entire nation," government spokesman Watchara Kanikar said.

Under the kingdom's strict lese majeste rules, insulting the monarchy or a member of the royal family can result in jail terms of up to 15 years. Anyone can file a lese majeste complaint, and police are duty-bound to investigate it.

And under Thailand's computer crime law, introduced in 2007, acts of defamation and posting false rumours online are punishable by five years in jail and a fine of 100,000 baht.

Internet content seen as insulting to the king -- who enjoys a semi-divine status among many citizens -- is a sensitive issue following two months of anti-government protests that came to a bloody end in May.

Thai authorities had already been closely scrutinising online comments about the monarchy since the "Red Shirt" campaign began following a 2006 coup that ousted their hero, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

In April a Red Shirt sympathiser, Wipas Raksakulthai, was arrested and charged for allegedly insulting the royal family on Facebook. He admitted being a Red Shirt sympathiser but denied criticising the monarchy.

The Thai government has also said it has uncovered an alleged network of conspirators working to undermine the royals, including Red Shirt leaders and two former prime ministers.

King Bhumibol, who is the world's longest-reigning monarch, has been hospitalised since September and has made no direct public comment on the recent political turmoil, which has left 90 people dead since mid-March.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2010-06-15