New constitution vs freedom of expression

So far, they have come up with 10 recommendations, focusing on the protection and promotion of these freedoms that would involve structural changes, systems and procedures.

Some of these recommendations were taken from the previous charters of 1997 and 2006, others are new elements derived from the past political contests and polarisation.

After the 2006 seizure of power, the focus of Thai media reform was concentrated on the freedom, independence and pluralistic nature of the media.

The 2007 charter was succinct in promoting and protecting these fundamental rights as stated in articles 46, 47, and 48. There were specific improvements from the previously popular 1997 charter.

For instance, media workers in the state-run media organisation were able to speak their minds without fear of prosecution. Furthermore, no government funds could be used to finance private mass media and politicians were not allowed to own or hold stocks of any mass media outlet. 

For the new constitution, issues related to promotion of media and information literacy, preventing media monopoly, public control and prevention of hate speech are on the agenda of the NRC.

Nowadays, the proliferation of social media and increased online accessibility has enabled the Thai public to follow information around the clock, both as receivers and contributors. However, the enormous amount of information generated day-to-day is still of low quality in terms of content and worse, there is not sufficient fact-checking.

The NRC committee is highly aware of the rapidly changing media landscape in Thailand, with the younger generation as main recipients of the new information society. The convergence of various media platforms into one – television, radio, Internet, newspapers, digital archives and libraries – requires better education for the public to analyse and make good use of information available. In this connection, there is an urgent need to strengthen media professional organisations to oversee a code of ethics and professionalism.

For the first time, the new constitution will also attempt to address ways and means in which the public stakeholders can perform the role of media watchdog to maintain media decency. It is a tall order. As information consumers, the government should encourage them to form independent groups to monitor media performance. To do that, the Thai public requires a higher level of media and information literacy.

Discussions with some NRC members on media reform efforts showed deep suspicions of the government’s ability to instill good information and literacy programmes. Further engagements with independent and non-government organisations are imperative.

Nonetheless, throughout modern Thai history, the state-owned mass media organisations have often been used as propaganda tools for the power wielders without due consideration of public and national interest. Even in a public media domain with non-partisan orientation, the government of the day cannot resist interfering when critical views are on display. 

Several NRC members are also worried about the ability of Thais to make good use of information and communications technology. Judging from the past five years, the information and views being created and transmitted have been polarised, causing confusion and deepening political divisions. Worst of all, it has inflicted emotional harm on the people’s psyche, further deepening distrust and antagonism. Therefore, it is incumbent on the NRC members to come up with a good approach that will empower the public and increase their information fluency and competency to prevent them from being manipulated.

Looking back, the amount of hate speech and information manufactured through all media platforms by myriads of political and social creeds has been scary and pervasive. Some led to hate crimes, not to mention senseless confrontations and violence over the years. An ongoing national reconciliation process would not make much progress if programmes and information campaigns these days were still ridden with discriminatory and self-centred messages.

At the moment, there are two schools of thought on this issue among the NRC members. The first approach is to enact hate-speech laws, seeking severe punishment for those who commit hate speech. The second approach is to amend existing laws including strengthening self-regulatory bodies. These supporters still see merit in constructive and vigorous criticism.

Finally, the issue of impunity for those committing violence against journalists must be addressed by the new charter’s drafters. The NRC has yet to take up this important topic. Within the international media community, there is an ongoing campaign to combat impunity for perpetrators of crimes against journalists. For the past decade, all over the world nearly 1,000 journalists have been killed and governments have failed to take action against those attackers. During political crisis in Thailand, foreign and local journalists have been killed and injured.

As a member of the United Nations, Thailand is now obliged to implement a UN resolution (A/RES/68/163) passed in 2013 which requires the government to prevent violence against journalists/media workers and provide them with a safe and enabling environment in which to work independently and without undue interference. We have to make sure that in the future, crimes against journalists must be prosecuted and there is no climate of impunity for their attackers.