Surveillance plan reeks of sinister intent

It is a roller-coaster ride in Thailand’s political arena. Less than a week after the lower House passed preliminary approval of the amnesty bill that will pardon political crimes committed during the 2010-2011 mayhem, Thailand has again moved backwards as police announce plans to monitor the popular social-media application called Line. Line is the country’s most popular chat application, with 15 million users.

The Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) plans to ask Japanese application operator Line Corp to cooperate so it can monitor conversations among “target” users, including “political groups, illegal business groups and terrorists”. The authorities justify their request by citing national security – the same rationale they used to clamp down on Facebook users a week ago.

The surveillance of social networks could trigger a public outcry when more people realise their freedom of expression is to be monitored and curtailed. The vague “targeting” is intimidating because it could potentially become blanket surveillance based on the same “national security” justification. Police monitoring of everyday conversations should be halted and condemned, especially with the government promoting peace and reconciliation. 

It is even more alarming that TCSD chief Major General Pisit Pao-in revealed that the agency had earlier asked the same corporation and other social-media operators to cooperate. It was spurned in that instance and Pisit expressed his disappointment. He questioned whether China’s government had done any wrong in restricting social networks there. Such a bold statement makes Thailand sound closer to a police state and contradicts the government’s claim to embrace democracy.

Thailand is among many countries where governments are willing to sacrifice the freedom of its citizens for improved national security. Facebook and Twitter are routinely deluged with requests for information from private accounts. In the second half of last year alone, the United States government asked to scrutinise at least 18,000 user accounts. In the first half of this year 35 different governments have submitted 1,157 requests to scrutinise Twitter accounts. Providing cause for optimism among defenders of citizens’ rights, all of these requests have been turned down. 

Line application developer Naver JP has received the Thai government’s request but has as yet to make a decision. Its general policy is to respect user privacy unless it seems that illegal activity might be occurring. Nevertheless the developer faces a dilemma – how can it assist the authorities while at the same time maintaining the trust of its users? To share its users’ secrets would only undercut its business, since fewer new clients would sign up.

Line is a chat application, and eavesdropping on private conversations is not unlike phone tapping, the only difference being between text and voice. And, if the police win over Naver, will they use the same national-security rationale to persuade providers of mobile-phone services to let then listen in on phone conversations? Technology experts say such surveillance is not as technically easy as it might seem. But the blunt announcement from the police has caused severe damage by showing that government lacks the will to uphold our right to privacy and freedom of expression. Dipping into anyone’s Line account would be a major setback in the battle to enshrine and safeguard rights. If an elected government initiated such surveillance, it would be a travesty. 

If national security is under threat, the government should examine the apparent causes instead of immediately clamping down on public forums. Thailand clearly has its internal problems, but just how fragile is our national security? This plan by the police is an overreaction. If a chat application could rock the country, there is little we can do to stop it. When the government decides to say, “Big Brother is watching you,” there is little left to cherish about the state of the nation.