66 Dictating the Internet: persons arrested for violating lesè majesté provisions sign an agreement allowing the authorities to access information in their electronic devices without any court warrant, and committing that they will not make similar comments again, as a prerequisite to dropping criminal charges.214 As will be evident from cases below, lesè majesté has been used as a justification not only to prosecute statements critical of the monarchy but also to curtail academic or theoretical discussions about political theory, history, and governance. Expression or information deemed to offend the monarchy has not only been prosecuted pursuant to lesè majesté provisions in the law, but also other provisions relating to sedition or regulation of online communications. Case of Karn Pongpraphapan In October 2019, Karn Pongpraphapan, a pro-democracy activist, was arrested and detained under the CCA following posts he had made on Facebook referring to how monarchic rule in Russia, France and Germany had been overthrown by popular revolution. His posts had come soon after widespread circulation of a hashtag on Twitter that expressed netizens’ discontent with the manner in which a Thai royal motorcade had blocked traffic in Bangkok. In announcing the arrest, the police implicitly alluded to a link between the activist’s Facebook posts and the trending hashtag by stating that “(o)ver the last week, bad actors have started inappropriate hashtags on social media, resulting in the arrested person posting inappropriate content on Facebook which stirred hatred”.215 Karn was released on bail, on conditions that he would not post similar content online again.216 social media platforms’, Straits Times, 25 September 2019, Available at: https://www.straitstimes. com/asia/se-asia/thailand-to-open-fake-news-centre-by-nov-1-to-address-rumours-on-socialmedia-platforms; Zsombor Peter, ‘Thailand’s Anti-Fake News Center Fans Fears of Censorship’, VOA, Available at: https://www.voanews.com/east-asia-pacific/thailands-anti-fake-news-centerfans-fears-censorship; See Section III (viii) for further discussion on the CCA. 214 ICJ communication with partners. In one instance, the ICJ was informed that such agreement had referred to the Cybersecurity Act to justify access to information in electronic equipment. See section III (viii) and footnote 531. 215 Reuters, 8 October 2019. 216 Bangkok Post, 8 October 2019.