FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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Dispute over whether Facebook ‘likes’ can constitute criminal conspiracy

Dispute over whether Facebook ‘likes’ can constitute criminal conspiracy

Many people are unaware that online acts as simple as pressing “like” on a Facebook status could land them in trouble with Thailand’s computer-related crime law.

In one of the most recent cases, a policeman was summoned last week as a witness after his Facebook account left a “like” on a message allegedly defaming a senior police officer.
“We found that you pressed ‘like’ in agreement with that message, an act that increased the credibility of such information,” Pol Major Samrerng Naew-in, an investigating officer at Chonburi Police Station, said in the summons to Pol Sergeant Chakpong Wongchit.
Chakpong’s Facebook account left a “like” on a post with messages and voice records criticising Pol Maj-General Kritsakorn Pleethanyawong, deputy commander of the Provincial Police Region 2. 
As Kritsakorn had filed a defamation complaint against Pol Captain Watcharin Benchanathasawat, who posted the original message, Chakpong was consequently called in as a witness.
The Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) earlier said anyone pressing “like” to a wrongful online status can be guilty as the Criminal Code’s Article 83 punishes a conspirator to a wrongful action. 
“An act of liking a wrongful Facebook status is equal to signing to endorse such an act,” the TCSD said. “While likers may not have the direct intention [on the wrongful act], an act of pressing ‘like’ increases the credibility of such information,” the TCSD said.

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