Google leads verdict criticism | Bangkok Post: breakingnews

Google issued a stark warning on Wednesday about internet freedom in Thailand after webmaster Chiranuch Premchaiporn was found guilty of failing to speedily delete an offensive post from the former Prachatai website forum.

Several human rights groups also commented on the case.In a rare and outspoken intervention, Google said Ms Chiranuch's sentence had set a legal precedent which cramps companies hosting internet platforms and poses a danger to web users."Today's guilty verdict for something somebody else wrote on her website is a serious threat to the future of the internet in Thailand," a Google spokesman said in an emailed statement."Telephone companies are not penalised for things people say on the phone and responsible website owners should not be punished for comments users post on their sites."Ms Chiranuch was charged over 10 comments posted on Prachatai in 2008.Critics say charges brought under Thailand's tough royal defamation laws are often politically motivated and amount to an assault on free speech.The internet has become one of the key battlegrounds for Thailand's complex political debates, with social networks surging in popularity over the last several years as the opposing factions rose to prominence.Tens of thousands of web pages have been removed from the internet in recent years from for allegedly insulting the monarchy.David Streckfuss, an independent analyst based in...