THE CABINET today (Jan. 28) approved a draft to amend the cybercrime decree and give officials absolute power to arrest, revoke and increase punishment with banking apps and mobile networks no longer able to shirk responsibility, Naewna newspaper said.
Mr. Jirayu Huangtrakul, the Prime Minister’s Office spokesman, said this amendment to the Royal Decree on Measures for Protection and Suppression of Technology Crimes B.E. 2566 (2023) (cybercrime decree) was proposed by the Digital Economy and Society Ministry because people are still losing 60 to 70 million baht a day to cybercriminals.
As it was ascertained that the original cybercrime decree lacked appropriate authority, punishment and assignment of duties in many areas especially the authority to take action against mule accounts the following amendments are being made:
(1) Increase the authority to take action against peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms involved in wrongdoing;
(2) Give telecommunications service providers an additional duty to suspend SIM cards of wrongdoers;
(3) Banks will have to send information about mule accounts to the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) for faster investigation and refund to victims;
(4) Increase penalty for P2P platforms and banks that refuse to reveal accounts held by criminals;
(5) Boost penalty for those who disclose personal information;
(6) Toughen penalty for financial institutions, mobile networks and social media platforms so that they are responsible for the damages incurred.
The ministry will now send the amendment draft to the to the Office of the Council of State to consider after which it will be returned to the Cabinet for in final approval then announced in the Royal Gazette and come into effect immediately.
The secretary-general of the Council of State told the Cabinet that it will take no more than 30 days to review the draft with an announcement likely in February.
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A graphic image on cybercrime by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
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