Free speech under threat

Free speech under threat

It is hardly unprecedented, but it has been a while since a forum on democracy unleashed such a great anti-democratic blowback.

The forum was last week in Ulan Bator, where Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra made an unusual analysis of the state of democracy in Thailand. Her words and her manner drew criticism that reached harsh and patently offensive levels. And then things got worse.

The tipping point was an unfortunate Facebook post by Somchai Katanyutanan, better known as "Chai Ratchawat", a cartoonist for the Thai Rath newspaper. The post compared prostitutes (favourably) with "an evil woman [who] sells the nation". This nastiness, offensive on several levels, spurred a protest by women in red shirts.

Then Ms Yingluck responded, and moved what had been a democratic discussion about her speech to non-democratic grounds. She filed a criminal lawsuit against the cartoonist, charging defamation. It is difficult to understand why she made such a decision.

After a speech that accused the elites of preventing democracy, the prime minister herself provided proof that the free speech part of democracy, at least, does not exist. Her lawsuit is an attempt to block it.

It does not seem as if she can win the case. Apart from the wording making it very difficult for Ms Yingluck to win her case in court, Mr Somchai's post is so offensive, so exaggerated, so over the top, that it can't really defame the premier.

This is why the sinister and intimidating threats from the Pheu Thai Party and red-shirt supporters are so dangerous. Last weekend, the governing Pheu Thai "requested" that the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) monitor broadcasters who might be insulting the national leader. The party wants the NBTC to take action if it hears "inappropriate or libellous" words.

Remarks, either written or spoken, like Mr Somchai's post may be offensive, but libel and defamation are not decided in the offices of the state-controlled broadcasting regulator. And wise people across the political spectrum should be extremely offended by the suggestion that punishment is required against someone for insulting the head of the government.

We have seen all this before, of course, from Ms Yingluck's big brother and others. Thaksin infamously threatened and filed defamation suits to try to stifle critics.

But last week, just when it appeared Ms Yingluck had inherited Thaksin's combination of a thin skin and misuse of the justice system, the Democrat Party showed its own true colours about freedom of speech.

The Democrats announced their own criminal charges against Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul. He allegedly defamed the Democrats by calling their 2008-2011 regime a "non-elected government".

They said Mr Surapong lied and slurred the former Democrat government _ and that was the free speech part. Unfortunately, it was followed by the threat of a lawsuit.

The prime minister and now the Democrats are making a mockery of free speech. The answer to offensive speech, including lies, is not the criminal courts, threats of prison time and the chilling hand of the dictator.

The answer to this problem, simply, is more free speech. If Ms Yingluck and the Democrats hate what people say and write about them, then tell us all why that is.

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