: DigitalReach
: Nonprofits / องค์กรไม่แสวงหาผลกำไร
: 1114
: 9 October 2024
27 October 2024
Job Type: Short-term Consultancy (Full-time)
Duration of Contract: 8 months
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
Deadline of Application: October 27, 2024
1. Background
DigitalReach is a digital rights organization that looks at impact of technology on human rights in Southeast Asia from a perspective of civil and political rights. Our work covers 8 countries in Southeast Asia which are Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The organization was founded in 2019 and registered as a foundation in 2022 in Bangkok, Thailand. The work of the organization revolves around three core areas which are research and monitoring, advocacy, and community building and empowerment. Three main themes that the organization is working on is freedom of expression, the right to privacy, and digital security.
Our core work includes the Annual Report on Digital Rights in Southeast Asia and Social Media Accountability in Southeast Asia which we are also the secretariat of the Southeast Asian Coalition on Tech Accountability (SEACT). In 2022, we have worked with our partner organizations, the Internet Law Reform Dialogue (iLaw) and the Citizen Lab at Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, to discover the abuses of Pegasus spyware against Thai dissidents and political opposition.
In the joint investigation on the abuses on spyware in Thailand, at least 35 individuals were infected with Pegasus spyware, developed by an Israeli surveillance firm, NSO Group. The majority of them are the activists that participated in the pro-democracy protests in 2020-2021 against the then government of Prayuth Chan-o-cha who first became a prime minister after staging a coup d’état in 2014.
The findings have led to two lawsuits which are Jatupat Boonpatararaksa v. NSO Group (Civil Court) and Yingcheep Atchanont and Arnon Nampa v. Thailand (Administrative Court). In April 2024, the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand also confirmed the abuses of spyware after conducting its own investigation on the issue after it received a petition from the activists who are the victims of the spyware. One year prior to the situation, four United Nations Special Rapporteurs which are the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, and the Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy, issued mandates to the Thai government asking the government to clarify the situation. What happened shows that Thailand does not have a mechanism to prevent the abuses of spyware in place yet. As the situation has moving ahead with a demand to hold relevant stakeholders that may involve in the abuses accountable, preventing the abuses of spyware to happen again would rely on having a legal mechanism in place.
2. Project Description
The project is to implement a guideline to draft a law to prevent the abuses of spyware in Thailand. The research assistant is tasked to explore the existing legal mechanisms that are related to spyware in Thailand which are mainly (1) the laws that allows the import of spyware technology and (2) the laws that allows lawful surveillance in the country. The project will further look at proposed solutions and best practices outside of Thailand to see what can be the possible elements that should be included in the legal framework given the Thailand context. While some countries do have their homegrown spyware technology which make it possible for them to ban the technology from foreign countries, Thailand is in a different context. This project is based on the situation that the use of spyware by the government agencies will have to be more responsibly.
The research is to explore how the existing mechanism that may allow the abuses to happen conveniently should be amended as well as what elements should be added to make the use of spyware more accountable. For example, apart from the regulation that needs to be considered, implementation of oversight bodies should be considered. This project is part of the Spyware Accountability Initiative.
The elements that may be explored, for example, are as follows;
The above elements were introduced by the European Court of Human Rights Grand Chamber in the 2021 case, Big Brother Watch v. United Kingdom. Victims’ aspects may also be explored. This is to identify gaps in the existing remedies that are offered under a current regulation based on the victims’ perspectives. Other individuals may be added to the interviews as necessary while the research is being conducted.
3. Methodology
The research will adopt mixed approaches including reviewing of existing materials, researcher’s observations, and in-depth interviews.
The research will start by looking at the existing materials that involves the sale and use of spyware technology in Thailand. Two main areas of regulations that will be considered are the regulations related to spyware imports, and the other area is the regulations that allow the government to conduct lawful surveillance. This part aims to identify which existing laws and regulations that may contribute to the abuses of spyware in the country and gaps in these regulations.
Interviews will be conducted with experts who are familiar with regulations on surveillance in Thailand as well in order to learn from their perspectives. This is to identify gaps in these regulations and what to consider in order to regulate the use of commercial spyware in Thailand based on human rights framework. Experts from outside of the country will also be included as parts of the interviews as well in order to learn more about regulating surveillance technology and see how it can be applied to the Thailand’s context.
Interviews will also be conducted with the victims to learn about challenges, especially the part where they filed a lawsuit against the NSO Group and the Thai government. The interviews should also cover the lawyers who are working on the cases.
4. Expected Outcome
The outcome of the project is a research publication that will be used as a guideline to draft a law to prevent the abuses of spyware in Thailand later. Following the draft being carefully reviewed, DigitalReach plans to work with local partners in Thailand to campaign for the draft law to be considered by the parliament which requires 10,000 public signatures according to the 2021 Initiative Process Act.
5. Scope of Work
6. Qualifications
7. Compensation, Duration, and Working Conditions:
The work itself is remote, but the research assistant is required to be based in Bangkok, Thailand due to meetings and interviews that will occur throughout the period of consultancy. The duration of the research is 8 months (6 months for collecting and analyzing information and 2 months for research writings). The compensation is 1,000 USD per month. This short-term consultation is full-time (40 hours a week). Please fill in the application form in the link below and submit the following documents;
https://digitalreach.asia/careers/research-assistant-spyware-accountability-in-thailand/
