NLA to consider change to computer law
Members of the National Legislative Assembly will meet on Thursday to consider a change to the Computer Crime Act amid concerns by Thai citizens over rights and privacy issues threatened by the new amendment.
The amendment passed its second reading last Friday, with changes made in some clauses including the controversial Article 14, said NLA member Pisit Pao-in, who sits on the subcommittee overseeing the amendment.
He said the NLA agreed last Friday to adjust Article 14, in line with suggestions by rights groups and Internet users, to overturn stipulations overlapping with the defamation offence in criminal law.
Critics expressed concern that Article 14 is vague in its prohibition against entering “false information” into computers. They said the term had been used widely to indict Internet users, including activists, for defamation.
The computer crime law in Article 14, however, imposes a stronger punishment of up to five years jail compared to the criminal law’s two-year maximum, critics of the amendment said.
In a bid to shoot down the amendment, netizens led by iLaw, a non-profit organisation, yesterday launched an online campaign encouraging Internet users to voice their concerns about the amendment.