Principle of Thai law for Protecting the Rights of Children from Cyber Bullying

Abstract

In Thailand, children are another group of individuals who commit suicide. The factors of suicide often come from problems in study, love, family, and good manners. These problems cause the children to feel depressed, helpless, and unable to make the proper decision, which can eventually lead to suicide. Another important aspect of suicide in children is the humiliation from behavior on social media, especially from being condemned and mocked on Facebook. Currently, there is no particular law in Thailand that can protect children from cyber bullying. Therefore, the objectives of this study are 1) to study the facts of cyber bullying in children in Thailand 2) to study the problems in applying the law of Thailand regarding child protection from cyber bullying; and 3) to compare the principles of foreign law regarding cyber bullying with the principle of Thai law. According to the literature review, it was found that the United Nations has developed child protection rights as international law under the Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989, established in B.E. 2535 (1989). The first right is the acknowledgement and prevention and suppression of using social media to provoke children to commit suicide. According to the study of American law in the federal government level and state level, it was found that the federal government is in the process of pushing the Cyber Bullying Prevention Bill. Hence, in the state level of the United States of America, there is now the enactment of law regarding cyber bullying in the state level in 22 states. In the study of Canadian law, it was found that there is law in the federal government level regarding this issue, which is Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act. In Thailand, there are 3 Acts of Parliament that are related with this issue, which are 1) Child Protection Act, B.E. 2546 (2003); 2) Computer-Related Crime Act, B.E. 2550 (2004) and its amendment, B.E. 2560 (2017); and 3) Criminal Code. The Criminal Code is an important law in suppressing the offenders. There is no provision regarding cyber bullying in particular. However, there is the related base offense that can be adapted for use, which is defamation. Cyber bullying in children is related with defamation by advertising according to Section 328 subject to imprisonment of not exceeding two years and fine not exceeding two hundred thousand baht. Therefore, it is appropriate to have a specific law with characteristics that protect children from cyber bullying like in the United States of America and Canada by specifying the types of offenses and base offenses, including the age level of those who will receive the protection and the offenders according to the law in a clear manner, so that those who think of doing wrong will be afraid of the legal penalty that will occur.