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A royal transition this month saw new King Maha Vajiralongkorn
ascend the throne following the death of his father, King
Bhumibol Adulyadej, on Oct. 13.
Thailand has some of the world's toughest laws against royal
insult, which has curtailed public discussion about the
monarchy's role following the death of King Bhumibol, who was
seen as a unifying figure.
Since King Bhumibol's death, authorities have cracked down on
what they consider to be insults to the royal family and have
shut down hundreds of websites.
The government is also sensitive about what it sees as criticism
of the military's role in politics, and opposition to its
seizure of power in a 2014 coup.
Prayuth's comments came a day before parliament will decide
whether to pass amendments to a 2007 Computer Crime Act which
critics say could result in more extensive online monitoring.
Amendments to the law, seen by Reuters on Friday, would allow
state officials to obtain user and traffic data from service
providers without court approval.
Any website that is seen as a threat to national security or
"offends people's good morals" can also be removed or suspended.
The current law says officials need court approval to remove
content.
"This law is for when anyone posts something that is poisonous
to society so that we know where it comes from," Prayuth told
reporters.
"Don't think this is a rights violation. This isn't what we call
a rights violation ... this is what we call a law to be used
against those who violate the law," he said.
Critics say parliament is likely to approve the amendments.
Since taking power, Prayuth's military government has made
increasing state control over cyberspace a priority.
In September, it launched a Ministry of Digital Economy and
Society. One of its tasks is to block and delete what it
considers to be inappropriate online.
Some 342,000 people have signed a petition calling for a
reconsideration of the amendments, highlighting opposition to
what critics, including civil society groups, say is a threat to
internet freedom.
Arthit Suriyawongkul of the Thai Netizen Network said the
amendments were problematic.
"It's not the law itself that is a rights violation, but the
authorities' extensive power when monitoring and censoring
online content, which could raise privacy concerns," he said.
(This version of the story has been refiled to add dropped
letter in paragraph 11)
(Reporting by Pracha Hariraksapitak and Patpicha Tanakasempipat;
Writing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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