LINE controversy adds to Yingluck govt's dubious rights records

[webfact]

'LINE' Controversy Adds To Yingluck Govt's Dubious Rights Records
By Khaosod Online


Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra at 65th World News Paper Congress, held in Bangkok, where she insisted that freedom of expression is her government's priority.

BANGKOK: -- The technology crime police′s proposal to snoop chat logs of the popular ′LINE′ application has drawn widespread opposition, including from some close associates of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

Pol.Maj.Gen. Pisit Pao-in, commander of Technology Crime Suppression division, claimed yesterday (13 August) that he has dispatched officials to Japan, where LINE is based, to request chat log data of individuals suspected of committing crimes.

He said his agency would use a software to detect suggestive words in the communication networks such as "arms trading", "drugs selling", "fake goods", or "prostitution".

"Thailand has over 15 million Line users. Surely I cannot monitor them all, so we will only focus on those who violate the laws on social network," Pol.Maj.Gen. Pisit said.

He added that the division would also seek out those who criticise the monarchy or pose other threats to the national security. Discussion of the Royal Family is criminalised under lese majeste law in Thailand.

As for other social network outlets, Pol.Maj.Gen Pisit said he had requested cooperation from administrators of WhatsApp, Youtube, and Facebook but those requests had been largely ignored. "Japan, on the other hand, tends to be more cooperative," he mused.

The news - understandably - ignites a fury on the Thai social network. Many view the proposal as an intrusive measure against individuals′ rights to free expression and privacy, while others say they are reminded of the ongoing controversy about Prism surveillance program conducted by the United States spy agency.

The chairwoman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Ms. Amara Pongsapitch, said the program suggested by Pol.Maj.Gen. Pisit is highly at risk of violating individuals′ privacy. If the authorities should go ahead with the plan, she said, the aim and process of the program should be strictly defined.

The Democrat Party also spared no time before lashing out at the proposal - for a somewhat different reason. Ms. Mallika Boonmeetrakoon, deputy spokeswoman of the Democrats, said instead of intruding citizens′ Line communication the government should in fact focus on shutting down websites and blocking Facebook pages that contain offensive content about the Royal Family.

It should be noted that the proposal to monitor Line application is the latest addition to dubious records of free speech under the administration of Ms. Yingluck, which disappointed many of its supporters who hoped the government would show more tolerance toward freedom of speech than its predecessors.

Just last week, the police summoned 4 individuals, one of them a high profile editor at a TV channel, to talk with the officials because they spread rumours about an imminent military coup, just as anti-government protests were about to take place in Bangkok.

As for the use of lese majeste law, while it is true the royalist Democrat Party is more keen on punishing the discussions on monarchy (in November 2011, for instance, Ms. Mallika demanded that the Yingluck administration completely block Youtube and Facebook because of offensive contents posted there), the ruling Pheu Thai Party does not show any sign to reform or repeal it neither.

Mr. Anudit Nakornthub, Minister of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), went as far as saying that anyone who even ′liked′ or ′shared′ offensive materials on the social media could be punished by computer crime laws - a remark that drew sharp criticism from internet rights advocacy groups.

Contacted by Khaosod, Pol.Maj.Gen. Pisit said the concern of civil rights groups has been "overblown". He said that human rights and privacy of ordinary citizens will not be affected by the plan, because only those suspected of breaking the laws would be targeted.

Ms. Yingluck herself told the reporters at a press conference later in the day that she has not studied the surveillance program in details, but said there is a need to monitor communications for threat to national security.

She repeated Pol.Maj.Gen. Pisit′s insistence that rights and liberty of ordinary citizens would not be in danger

Nonetheless, perhaps sensing the intense unpopularity of the program, some allies of Ms. Yingluck went on the record to criticise the plan to monitor LINE chat logs.

Full story: http://www.khaosod.co.th/en/view_newsonline.php?newsid=TVRNM05qUTJPRGsxTUE9PQ==

-- KHAOSOD English 2013-08-15

[chooka]

"she insisted that freedom of expression is her government's priority".

If that is really the case then put your dogs on a leash. They are making you look like a total hypocrite, threatening to charge and incarcerate people for hitting a like button and wanting access to their private correspondence. If you are really in charge and truly mean what you say then prove it.

Maybe this freedom of expression is one sided to be used against those who do not agree with government policies and may vote against you. Those acting in the governments name are really making the P.M look like a total fool.

Edited August 14, 2013 by chooka

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Democrats are actually just as bad about this. Worse, actually. They're the main ones going after freedom of expression that has 15 year jail sentences on the books.

Main thing that will probably get fixed is to find someone who's slightly less of an idiot to run the TCSD (Thought Crime Suppression Division).

Edited August 14, 2013 by WinnieTheKhwai

[chainarong]

"she insisted that freedom of expression is her government's priority".

If that is really the case then put your dogs on a leash. They are making you look like a total hypocrite, threatening to charge and incarcerate people for hitting a like button and wanting access to their private correspondence. If you are really in charge and truly mean what you say then prove it.

Maybe this freedom of expression is one sided to be used against those who do not agree with government policies and may vote against you. Those acting in the governments name are really making the P.M look like a total fool.

Chooka, the problem lies in the interpretation of Democracy, the P.M. has been caught out so many times with her two face, about face approach to governing the country, that foreign embassies must kill themselves laughing at the weekend BBQ's

[virtualtraveller]

It all comes down to the existence of a law that is outdated, and though well intentioned is being abused by all and sundry as an excuse to curb freedom of other expression, specifically political criticism. Of course, when you've routinely got important people saying silly things like 'coup', what can you expect. Everyone involved is being childish and ignorant of technology vis-a-vis 21st century freedom of speech.

[chooka]

Freedom of expression is a priority but opinions are a criminal offence.

[Robby nz]

What's so dubious about her rights record?

Its all in word ' but they do say actions speak louder.

She hasn't studied the surveillance program in details but knows it wont affect ordinary people, only extraordinary people.

Yea for instinct.

Do have to agree the Dems approach is all wrong, they should be condemning it outright rather than talking about conditional surveillance.

Fail for both parties on this one.

[MaxLee]

"she insisted that freedom of expression is her government's priority".

If that is really the case then put your dogs on a leash. They are making you look like a total hypocrite, threatening to charge and incarcerate people for hitting a like button and wanting access to their private correspondence. If you are really in charge and truly mean what you say then prove it.

Maybe this freedom of expression is one sided to be used against those who do not agree with government policies and may vote against you. Those acting in the governments name are really making the P.M look like a total fool.

Chooka, the problem lies in the interpretation of Democracy, the P.M. has been caught out so many times with her two face, about face approach to governing the country, that foreign embassies must kill themselves laughing at the weekend BBQ's

The problem is our dear PM is too busy planning her next Oopie-woopie shopping trip to Hawaii, so her government dogs enjoy the freedoms to rule the country and abuse their power in any way they see fit.

[Siripon]

Yingluck should call off the red hecklers and hoodlums who constantly dog Democrat rallies and speeches.

But she hasn't got the courage.

[whybother]

Pol.Maj.Gen. Pisit Pao-in, commander of Technology Crime Suppression division, claimed yesterday (13 August) that he has dispatched officials to Japan, where LINE is based, to request chat log data of individuals suspected of committing crimes.

He said his agency would use a software to detect suggestive words in the communication networks such as "arms trading", "drugs selling", "fake goods", or "prostitution".

"Thailand has over 15 million Line users. Surely I cannot monitor them all, so we will only focus on those who violate the laws on social network," Pol.Maj.Gen. Pisit said.

He added that the division would also seek out those who criticise the monarchy or pose other threats to the national security. Discussion of the Royal Family is criminalised under lese majeste law in Thailand.

I'm confused.

They can't monitor all 15 mil users, so are they going to only monitor those suspected of crimes.

But they're going to "seek out" others. Does that mean they're going to monitor all 15 mil users?

[whybother]

Democrats are actually just as bad about this. Worse, actually. They're the main ones going after freedom of expression that has 15 year jail sentences on the books.

Main thing that will probably get fixed is to find someone who's slightly less of an idiot to run the TCSD (Thought Crime Suppression Division).

... But the Democrats ...

One of the reasons there were so many websites blocked during the Democrats time in office is because there were so many red shirts posting things like "burn down Bangkok".

But it was interesting that as soon as PTP got into office, Chalerm spent 400 million baht on a lese majeste cyber war room. It sounds like the PTP thought that the Democrats weren't going after freedom of expression hard enough.

[Nickymaster]

"she insisted that freedom of expression is her government's priority".

If that is really the case then put your dogs on a leash. They are making you look like a total hypocrite, threatening to charge and incarcerate people for hitting a like button and wanting access to their private correspondence. If you are really in charge and truly mean what you say then prove it.

Maybe this freedom of expression is one sided to be used against those who do not agree with government policies and may vote against you. Those acting in the governments name are really making the P.M look like a total fool.

Chooka, the problem lies in the interpretation of Democracy, the P.M. has been caught out so many times with her two face, about face approach to governing the country, that foreign embassies must kill themselves laughing at the weekend BBQ's

Ohh come on give Yingluck a break. Do you realize how difficult it is to have 2 agendas?

[OzMick]

Democrats are actually just as bad about this. Worse, actually. They're the main ones going after freedom of expression that has 15 year jail sentences on the books.

Main thing that will probably get fixed is to find someone who's slightly less of an idiot to run the TCSD (Thought Crime Suppression Division).

... But the Democrats ...

One of the reasons there were so many websites blocked during the Democrats time in office is because there were so many red shirts posting things like "burn down Bangkok".

But it was interesting that as soon as PTP got into office, Chalerm spent 400 million baht on a lese majeste cyber war room. It sounds like the PTP thought that the Democrats weren't going after freedom of expression hard enough.

It is rumoured that the B400 million cyber war room is actually a broom closet near Chalerm's old office, used to store obsolete desk-tops.

Edited August 15, 2013 by OzMick

[tomross46]

"she insisted that freedom of expression is her government's priority".

If that is really the case then put your dogs on a leash. They are making you look like a total hypocrite, threatening to charge and incarcerate people for hitting a like button and wanting access to their private correspondence. If you are really in charge and truly mean what you say then prove it.

Maybe this freedom of expression is one sided to be used against those who do not agree with government policies and may vote against you. Those acting in the governments name are really making the P.M look like a total fool.

Chooka, the problem lies in the interpretation of Democracy, the P.M. has been caught out so many times with her two face, about face approach to governing the country, that foreign embassies must kill themselves laughing at the weekend BBQ's

The problem is our dear PM is too busy planning her next Oopie-woopie shopping trip to Hawaii, so her government dogs enjoy the freedoms to rule the country and abuse their power in any way they see fit.

If the cat is away the rats will play.

[Neilly]

He said his agency would use a software to detect suggestive words in the communication networks such as "arms trading", "drugs selling", "fake goods", or "prostitution".

No need to worry then...no doubt it will be a pirated copy and crash all time

[Tywais]

"drugs selling"

So one is taking a chance in searching for meds online. Seem to remember quite a while ago when a popular search engine messed up and considered 'breasts' as an illegal search term as it could be searching for porn. Could be a problem for anyone named Dick also.

[gemini81]

"she insisted that freedom of expression is her government's priority".

If that is really the case then put your dogs on a leash. They are making you look like a total hypocrite, threatening to charge and incarcerate people for hitting a like button and wanting access to their private correspondence. If you are really in charge and truly mean what you say then prove it.

Maybe this freedom of expression is one sided to be used against those who do not agree with government policies and may vote against you. Those acting in the governments name are really making the P.M look like a total fool.

That is because they truly are fools.

[Thai at Heart]

Pol.Maj.Gen. Pisit Pao-in, commander of Technology Crime Suppression division, claimed yesterday (13 August) that he has dispatched officials to Japan, where LINE is based, to request chat log data of individuals suspected of committing crimes.

He said his agency would use a software to detect suggestive words in the communication networks such as "arms trading", "drugs selling", "fake goods", or "prostitution".

"Thailand has over 15 million Line users. Surely I cannot monitor them all, so we will only focus on those who violate the laws on social network," Pol.Maj.Gen. Pisit said.

He added that the division would also seek out those who criticise the monarchy or pose other threats to the national security. Discussion of the Royal Family is criminalised under lese majeste law in Thailand.

I'm confused.

They can't monitor all 15 mil users, so are they going to only monitor those suspected of crimes.

But they're going to "seek out" others. Does that mean they're going to monitor all 15 mil users?

Now, if you go to court to tap someone's phone and intercept their internet traffic why do you need to get line involved?

Just use the local isps surely.

[gemini81]

He said his agency would use a software to detect suggestive words in the communication networks such as "arms trading", "drugs selling", "fake goods", or "prostitution".

No need to worry then...no doubt it will be a pirated copy and crash all time

So college students will get tossed in the slammer for doing research on a thesis etc. Nice, following the Pol Pot model well, Thaksin-PTP

[Nickymaster]

He said his agency would use a software to detect suggestive words in the communication networks such as "arms trading", "drugs selling", "fake goods", or "prostitution".

In my opinion all the authorities are interested in is trying to block announcements on when and where the people are going to rally against this corrupt administration.

[mca]

He said his agency would use a software to detect suggestive words in the communication networks such as "arms trading", "drugs selling", "fake goods", or "prostitution".

As Associate Professor Sterling Braithwaite of Kings College Cambridge looks down at his life's work 5000 page manuscript entitled " The Connection Between The Afgahistani Arms and Drugs Trade And It's Effects On Enforced Teenage Prostitution In The Mountain Regions-Truth Or Fake?" which he had hoped to launch at the Bangkok Book Fair using his entire life's savings and utters "Sh*t"

[TackyToo]

Yingluck should call off the red hecklers and hoodlums who constantly dog Democrat rallies and speeches.

But she hasn't got the courage.

That would ned a pai of big "cochones"

[Carl64]

In my opinion the more you try to resist social networking by imposing restrictive laws and making ridiculous statements. The more you will drive it underground. When you do that you will find a million ways to get around it. I see a booming industry for VPN tunnels and proxy servers in Thailand. This will evolve 10 times faster than any half baked "war room".

Every half assed hacker in the world will jump at this one. Yes maybe make some money out of it but more than likely just do it to beat the system.

Thailand you are on dangerous ground here.

P.S my opinion only.

[bangkokheat]

Phew that counts me out, i would never use words like Prostitute, slut yes

[Baerboxer]

Another demonstration of how completely out of touch the PM/DM is with what her cabinet, government and police are actually doing. She really is not involved.

[spidermike007]

"she insisted that freedom of expression is her government's priority".

If that is really the case then put your dogs on a leash. They are making you look like a total hypocrite, threatening to charge and incarcerate people for hitting a like button and wanting access to their private correspondence. If you are really in charge and truly mean what you say then prove it.

Maybe this freedom of expression is one sided to be used against those who do not agree with government policies and may vote against you. Those acting in the governments name are really making the P.M look like a total fool.

Exactly. Goombahs like Pol.Maj.Gen. Pisit Pao-in, commander of Technology Crime Suppression division, should simply not be in a position of power, or simpletons like him should learn diplomatic skills, which he severely lacks. It does make her look a bit fascist, does it not? Reminds me a bit of the NSA, and the American spy machine, which seems to be growing by the day, with their new leader who seems to enjoy his power a bit too much. Is it simply that power is too intoxicating for people who do not have deep seated values, to begin with?

[gbswales]

Their naivity is beyond belief (or maybe it isnt) - do they really believe that looking for key words like drugs, arms dealing, terrorism etc is going to feret out real criminals? Do they really believe that such people use unencrypted and public messaging services like Line? If they do come across these words it is far more likely that someone is simply having a discussion with another about drugs problems or terrorism, or even an academic researching. Hell I just used the words on here - should I now expect a knock at the door one morning.

As for including prosititution does he mean the thousands of young women and men for whom this is a full time profession.

They would be better off looking for words commonly associated with small time tourist scams (they wont catch the big boys)

Sounds like a jolly trip to Japan for a couple of officials who could surely have sought this information by correspondence

My opinion - file this in the same drawer as everything with the word "crackdown" in it!

[SICHONSTEVE]

Yingluck should call off the red hecklers and hoodlums who constantly dog Democrat rallies and speeches.

But she hasn't got the courage.

It is nothing to do with courage at all. Do you not think that Yingluck (read Thaksin) would be in favour of encouraging these undemocratic actions rather than curbing them??

[BlackJack]

i see class actions against Line

as when u sign up it says words to the effect that your data is private and they wont disclose it to a 3rd party

disclosing it is a breach on contract

[Dap]

"she insisted that freedom of expression is her government's priority".

If that is really the case then put your dogs on a leash. They are making you look like a total hypocrite, threatening to charge and incarcerate people for hitting a like button and wanting access to their private correspondence. If you are really in charge and truly mean what you say then prove it.

Maybe this freedom of expression is one sided to be used against those who do not agree with government policies and may vote against you. Those acting in the governments name are really making the P.M look like a total fool.

Chooka, the problem lies in the interpretation of Democracy, the P.M. has been caught out so many times with her two face, about face approach to governing the country, that foreign embassies must kill themselves laughing at the weekend BBQ's

Ohh come on give Yingluck a break. Do you realize how difficult it is to have 2 agendas?

What's the other one?