The criminalisation of freedom of expression online in Thailand Freedom of Expression Documentation Centre, iLaw https://freedom.ilaw.or.th/en Introduction: Background on the political situation in Thailand Thailand is a sovereign country ruled by democracy with the King as the head of state. However, after a revolution against the absolute monarchy in 1932, Thailand has had at least 13 military coups with 11 unsuccessful rebellions and 20 constitutions. The time period under military governments is longer than that of elected governments. The 1997 constitution created a new form of democratic government that led to the rise of a successful political party led by Thaksin Shinawatra, a millionaire businessman. The Thaksin administration and policies became popular among poor people in the countryside along with many corruption allegations. This phenomenon did not satisfy the traditional institutions such as the military, judiciary, bureaucrats and middle class society who cooperated to fight against the new emerging power, that of business politicians. The anti-Thaksin movement gathered with yellow as a campaign colour, as it is the colour of King Rama IX, while the pro-Thaksin movement adopted the colour red, as it is a symbol of the common people. The political conflict arose around 2005 with the “yellow shirt” demonstrations against Thaksin which led to a military coup on 19 September 2006. The “red shirt” movement fighting against the invisible power outside the constitution emerged in response. Thaksin’s younger sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, was elected as prime minister after the junta-drafted 2007 constitution was enacted. But there are many movements and accusations against her. The big movement, which consisted of conservative groups, professional elites and some NGOs that opposed the political influence of the Shinawatra clan, and is called the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), shut down the country for months in late 2013. The PDRC rose after Yingluck’s government tried to pass a general amnesty (for her exiled brother), and after high-level corruption in a failed rice-subsidy scheme was revealed. Yingluck ordered the dissolution of the parliament and called for a new election, contradictory to the demand from protestors who were opposed to the election and called for the creation of a new ruling system by people’s assembly. This led to a deadlock and a military coup on 22 May 2014 led by General Prayuth Chan-o-cha in the name of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO). With the justification of resolving the political conflict in society, the NCPO proceeded to impose martial law on 20 May 2014 and repressed individual liberties and freedoms using political and legal claims. In part, they achieved this through the speedy and forced promulgation of an interim constitution on 22 July 2014. The absolute power of the NCPO is enshrined and entrenched in Sections 44, 47 and 48 of the interim constitution. Section 44 confers absolute power to the head of the NCPO to issue any executive orders and announcements deemed necessary for “the benefit of reform in any field and to strengthen public unity and harmony, or for the prevention, disruption or suppression of any act which undermines public peace and order or national security, the monarchy, national economics or administration of state affairs.” This enables General Prayuth, as the head of the NCPO, to override any checks and balances from the parliament and judiciary. Section 47 states that all executive orders and announcements issued by the junta are “lawful, constitutional, and final.” Section 48 grants immunity from prosecution to the members of the NCPO and all other individuals acting under the orders of the NCPO with regard to the coup, thus giving full discretion to the NCPO to govern without judicial oversight. A considerable part of the NCPO’s strategy to maintain its hold on power is the use of the existing laws (Section 112 and 116 of the Penal Code) and enacting new laws to enhance military power in judicial process (Head of NCPO Announcement 118 / Unshackling Expression