WHAT CAN BE DONE IN THAILAND TO SUPPRESS PORNOGRAPHY ON THE INTERNET?

          Thailand alone cannot solve the problem of the flood of immorality on the Internet. There is a need for a unified international cooperation because of the nature of the Internet. Thailand, as a member of international community can propose an initiative for developing and applying international standards of indecency on the Internet. The fact that there is no one standard of indecency does not mean that there cannot be such a one, particularly limited to the information uploaded on and downloaded from the Internet. It is possible to develop one international standard of indecency which applies exclusively to the Internet, leaving the national states freedom to apply different standards outside the Internet.

          Developing an international standard of indecency requires from Thai lawyers to express that standard in rational forms rather than to rely on words describing feelings like being ugly or shameful. At the same time, it is of little help to compile catalogues of the images which are allowed and which are not with the detailed descriptions of all possible acts which can cause sexual lust. What lawyers need is a flexible standard of indecency which should fully express the spirit of anti-pornography laws – to protect family values, youth, and childhood.

          One does not need to wait for the politicians to agree on the international standard, the parliaments to ratify them, and the agreement to come into force. It will be too late. Thai lawyers must today seek this standard and apply it today. In the end, the real law is not the one which is in the books or on the paper, but the law which governs relationships in real life.

          The principle for developing standards of indecency as well as decency which is proposed in this essay is simple: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” In relation to indecency on the Internet it means that anyone who distributes any materials on the Internet must take care for the wellbeing of those people who will get access to those materials. This principle does not say precisely which image should be considered as pornographic or not. What it does say that the image which is posted on the Internet must be evaluated in terms of benefits and harms it can possibly cause. If there is a likelihood that this image can corrupt morals of people in whatever part of the world, there is an obligation not to make it available on the Internet. How can this principle work in practice?