Media freedom is a two-way street

Recently Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva met with representatives of the online community following a police raid on the Prachathai.com office early this month. He told internet users that the government would like to find ways to work with civil society organisations on online freedom, and to find acceptable ways to ensure openness. It was a remarkable meeting for the young prime minister, who believes that online freedom is imperative for the country's openness and growing interconnectedness with the rest of the world.

In the past few years, online filtering and censorship has increased in Thailand, causing alarm throughout the world, and international media monitoring groups have criticised online restrictions here.

Abhisit has agreed to establish a task force as a link between Internet users and the authorities so that the two sides can engage in dialogue and work out acceptable norms and conduct.

In the raid on the Prachathai office, the webmaster was questioned and detained temporarily. Abhisit said the police were mistaken in their actions. But there has been no word of apology from the police.

To ensure that such a raid does not occur again, there should be more coordination and cooperation between official state agencies, including the ministries of culture and of information and communications technology, the law enforcement special branches and the prime minister's office. Often, one of these agencies will act of its own accord, without informing any of the others. Their decisions are mostly knee-jerk reactions made out of the fear of charges of complacency over non-action.

Obviously, good online governance is essential for both the government and users. At the moment, there are only 15 million Internet users in Thailand, but the number is increasing fast. Most users are under 30 years old, and for some of them the Internet is their main source of information and interaction with the world. They create blogs, use Web boards, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other new media to make their views known to whoever is out there in cyberspace.

Some government agencies are hoping to obtain huge budgets to set up firewalls to block certain websites. But to enforce tight, 24-hour surveillance is a waste of money and time. The current strategy to close down websites that are charged with defamation does not fit with the ubiquity of the Internet. Every time officials shut down a website, multiple others pop up in its place. Modern software has circumvented all firewall instruments, and users know how to access banned sites and information by circuitous routes.

Instead, there must be a sustained campaign to educate both online enforcers and users on the proper use of online media and communications, especially when online information infringes on other people's rights. The Cyber Crimes Law, which was enacted in 1997, is not widely known.

Young users and website hosts have to understand the law, otherwise they could end up in jail for allowing other people to place content deemed illegal, offensive or libellous. At the same time, officials from concerned agencies must change their mindset about online users; they must be weaned away from the notion that all Internet users are troublemakers.

The task force is a good and timely intervention in this highly sensitive issue. The prime minister has shown the courage to tackle the issue of Internet freedom despite the numerous ongoing defamation suits regarding the monarch and others. Abhisit has decided to deal with the matter head-on, and he cannot turn back. So far, he has done well by responding to appeals and complaints. But the future is uncertain, and so is the outcome of the dialogue and the appropriate way to monitor the Internet.

But for the time being, Thai officials who oversee the flow of audio-visual and written content on the Internet must refrain from intimidating acts or illegal blocks of websites or bloggers.

Meanwhile, the government should free Suwicha Takhor, who was jailed under the 2007 Cyber Crimes Law and denied bail twice. Lest we forget, Thailand enacted an access to information law in 1997, and it is the right of Thai citizens to have access to information. This is not a privilege but a right guaranteed under the new constitution. Thailand is a free media country. Further online censorship will only damage the country's credibility and scupper Abhisit's promise to turn Thailand into a haven of media freedom.