<div> <div>Thailand has again been ranked by Freedom House as 'Not Free' due to chronic human rights violations, suppressed freedom of expression and a military-sponsored draft constitution.</div> </div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On 2 February 2017, Freedom House published its annual report titled <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/article/freedom-world-2017-freedom-decline-continues-amid-rising-populism-and-autocracy">Freedom in the World 2017: Populists and Autocrats: The Dual Threat to Global Democracy</a>, an annual review of freedom worldwide. </div>

<div>A draft amendment of Article 37 of the 2008 Broadcasting Act, aimed at prohibiting the broadcast of content undermining ‘national security’, the ‘constitutional monarchy system of government’, and ‘public morality’, is now undergoing public hearings while receiving wide opposition.</div> <div> </div>

<p>Chiranuch Premchaiporn, webmaster of independent Thai online news portal Prachatai, was arrested March 6 under Thailand&rsquo;s Computer Crimes Act. Her charges resulted from allowing comments posted by readers of Prachatai&rsquo;s online discussion fora alleged to be l&egrave;se majest&eacute;.<br /> &nbsp;</p>