[HIB]When is freedom of speech not freedom of speech? When cyber laws define it

[newsbot]

Freedom of speech, abuse of power by the government, and the new norms of a democratic society empowered by the Internet were all topics discussed by a wide variety of speakers at a seminar on the third anniversary of the Computer Misuse Act, often known as the Cybercrime law, hosted by the Thai Netizen Network, Media 4 Democracy and the Southeast Asia Press Alliance. Suranand Vejjajiva, former Minister to the Prime Minister's Office and currently a columnist for the Bangkok Post, spoke of how bureaucracy has not realised the world had changed because of the Internet and how education and self-immunity, not control, is the way forward in a democratic society. "Control is a normal part of corporate culture," he said. "If one looks at IBM, Hitachi or Haliburton, all these organisations have a very strong level of control of the flow of information, which is normal.

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