Thailand: Computer Crime Act, 2017 Executive summary Computer Crime Act of 2007 (the Amended Act) for its compliance with international freedom of expression standards. The Amended Act is currently awaiting the endorsement of King Maha Vajiralongkorn. ARTICLE 19 has previously reviewed the 2007 Act and called on the Thai Government to amend it. On the outset, ARTICLE 19 notes that it is possible for Thailand to adequately punish legitimate computer crimes with far fewer offences and much greater protections for free speech. However, as this analysis shows, the Thai authorities not only failed to bring the 2007 Act into full compliance with international human rights standards, but the Amended Act contains several sweeping additions that will only serve to expand powers that have already been aggressively used to limit freedom of speech. In particular, we are concerned that: The Amended Act allows the government nearly unfettered authority to restrict free speech, engage in surveillance, conduct warrantless searches of personal data, and undermine freedoms to utilize encryption and anonymity; Vaguely-defined enhancements to offences can multiply prison sentences by up to ten or twenty times without any requirement of serious harm; The Amended Act criminalises defamation and obscenity, which is ipso facto ions; Most of the offences as written amount to strict liability crimes, without clear intentionality requirements; The investigatory powers force service providers to retain user data or allow for warrantless access to user communications; There are no provisions for a 'public interest' defence that would provide an opportunity for an accused to establish that there was no harm or risk of harm to a legitimate interest in engaging in the proscribed activity, and that the public benefit in the activity outweighed any harm; The Amended Act problematically establishes a five-person committee that can obtain court approval to censor content online if it offends public morals. Such a power is exceedingly broad and facially threatens to censor legitimate expression on the basis of its content; The Amended Act is rife with broad powers that are susceptible to abuse and could severely punish legitimate political, academic, or social expression. ARTICLE 19 urges the drafters of the Amended Act and the relevant committees in charge of scrutinising it to address the shortcomings identified above to ensure the compatibility of the Act with international standards of freedom of expression. We stand ready to provide further assistance in this process. Key recommendations: All offences of the Amended Act should be modified from strict liability offences to Enhancements to penalties, if included, must be less severe and limited to punishing ARTICLE 19 Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Rd, London EC1R 3GA Page 2 of 24 www.article19.org +44 20 7324 2500