The Thai Netizen Network will keep a close watch on the enforcement of the Computer Crime Bill which passed the third and final readings of the National Legislative Assembly on Friday.
The NLA voted 168:0 to endorse the bill with five abstentions after a five-hour debate.
TNN founder Ms Sarunee Archavananthakul said the bill was slightly amended which was a pity “but still better than no amendments at all”.
She said her group, at this stage, would monitor the enforcement of the law to determine its impacts. She added that there are four areas to watch: what will the police do with the old cases under the previous computer crime law; all the announcements issued by virtue of the old law; will the screening committee be transparent.
The issue which was amended during the debate concerns the composition of the powerful screening committee. The number of the committee members has been increased to nine from five and, at least, three of them must represent civil society group, media and the private sector.
Mr Arthit Suriyawongkul of TNN noted that the addition of three members representing civil society and media would not help much because they would be outnumbered anyway by the majority members representing the government.
Another contentious issue heavily debated in the parliament concerns the provision regarding information deemed violating public peace and order.
