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Thailand's rubber-stamp parliament approved the Cybersecurity
Act unanimously on Thursday, the latest in a wave of new laws in
Asia that assert government control over the internet.
Activists have called the legislation "cyber martial law",
saying it would sacrifice privacy and the rule of law, and
warning compliance burdens could drive foreign businesses out of
Thailand.
The government said the law was intended to protect networks
from cyber attacks and would not enable state surveillance or
violate rights.
"We have made sure that it would not allow for violation of
individuals' rights and arbitrary use of power," Ajarin
Pattanapanchai, permanent-secretary of the Ministry of Digital
Economy and Society, told reporters.
"The law will not be used to regulate social media, or computers
or devices belonging to the people."
But experts argued the vague language of the laws would still
allow for broad interpretations of actions authorities could
perform, which may end up infringing on rights.
"The scope of the law is so broad, it's like Big Brother,"
Kanathip Thongraweewong, Director of Digital Media Law Institute
at Kasembandit University, told Reuters.
Thailand's military government has pushed for several laws it
said would support the digital economy, including an amendment
to the Computer Crime Act in 2017, which was intended to
prosecute cyber crimes like phishing but has been used to crack
down on dissent.
(Editing by Nick Macfie)
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