Future Forward Party (FFP) deputy leader Phongsakon Rotchomphu has met police to acknowledge a charge of sharing fake news online that accused Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon of using 12,000 baht of government money to pay for a cup of coffee.
Lt Gen Phongsakon reported to the Technology Crime Suppression Division yesterday, but insisted he was the victim of a ploy to discredit him and his party, claiming he had no idea the news was fabricated as it came from a usually reliable news agency.
FFP deputy leader Lt Gen Phongsakon Rotchomphu reports to police to be charged for uploading false information about Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon. Apichit Jinakul
He claimed the story was also shared by some military officials and said he deleted it as soon as he learnt it had in fact come from a bogus website.
The division charged him under the 2007 Computer Crime Act of putting false information in a computer system after he re-posted the "news" on his Facebook page.
Lt Gen Phongsakon said yesterday he believed the gravity of the offence may have been exaggerated as his action did not cause any riots, stocks to plunge, or other serious consequences.
"I think this law is problematic and needs an urgent rewrite," he said.
"It all happened within three minutes," he said, explaining that even though he deleted it immediately, his Facebook page had already been cached and was subsequently used as evidence against him.
The FFP also asked the Election Commission (EC) yesterday to look into an image produced by a TV station that shows its party leader with ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra on an LED screen near a fountain roundabout in Hat Yai district of Songkhla province.
Deputy party leader Kunthida Rungruengkiat submitted the letter asking the EC to investigate whether the display violates the election law.
"If it does, we'll ask the EC to remove it," she said.
Thaksin fled in 2008 to escape a corruption charge but is still believed to wield influence over some political parties.
