Thai authorities should drop criminal defamation charges against the Australian journalist Murray Hunter, who is being prosecuted for reporting on Malaysia's media regulating agency, Human Rights Watch said today.
Thai authorities arrested Hunter on September 29, 2025, at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport while he was awaiting to board a flight to Hong Kong. He was charged with four counts of "defamation by publication," section 328 of Thailand's criminal code, for defaming the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission. Each charge carries a maximum prison term of two years and a fine of up to 200,000 baht (US$6,175). He was detained for 24 hours, then released on bail. Thai authorities have confiscated his passport to prevent him from leaving the country.
"The arrest and criminal defamation charges against Murray Hunter is an alarming example of cross border efforts to suppress critical voices and media freedoms," said Daniela Gavshon, Australia director at Human Rights Watch. "The Thai authorities should immediately drop the charges against him."
On November 17, the Thai public prosecutor formally indicted Hunter for criminal defamation in connection with four articles he published on his Substack newsletter in April 2024 that were highly critical of the Malaysian commission. Thai authorities acted on a complaint filed by the commission's legal representative in Thailand. Hunter's trial is scheduled for December 22 at the Bangkok South Criminal Court.
The Malaysian government severely restricts freedom of expression, using broad and vaguely worded laws to target critics. In December 2024, the Malaysian parliament approved regressive amendments to the repressive Communications and Multimedia Act 1998. The regulatory Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, overseen by the Ministry of Communications and Digital, has on numerous occasions banned access to online news portals to censor critical speech. However, filing a criminal complaint against Hunter in Thailand is a new development in the Malaysian government's efforts to curtail free speech, Human Rights Watch said.
International human rights law allows for restrictions on freedom of expression to protect an individual's reputation so long as such restrictions are necessary and narrowly drawn. The United Nations Human Rights Committee has said that governments should consider decriminalizing defamation and that "imprisonment is never an appropriate penalty" for defamation. Human Rights Watch considers criminal defamation laws incompatible with the obligation to protect freedom of expression.
The Hunter case underscores the Thai government's willingness to violate free expression rights on behalf of foreign governments that are targeting critics beyond their borders, Human Rights Watch said. In August, Thai authorities also agreed to the removal of artworks on Hong Kong, Tibet, and Xinjiang from an exhibition at the Bangkok Arts and Cultural Centre at the request of the Chinese Embassy.
Over the past decade, Thai authorities have appeared to cooperate with foreign governments committing abuses against critics living in Thailand, a practice known as "transnational repression."
Thailand, a current member of the UN Human Rights Council, has disregarded recommendations regarding freedom of expression from the 2021 Universal Periodic Review by other UN member states. Since the military coup in 2014, successive Thai governments have prosecuted almost 2,000 people for exercising their right to freedom of expression. Thai authorities have also targeted foreign nationals, including the prominent Thai studies scholar Paul Chambers, who had to leave Thailand, where he had been living, earlier in 2025.
"Australia and other concerned governments should make it clear to Thai authorities that prosecuting Hunter will have a detrimental impact on Thailand's reputation," Gavshon said. "The Thai government should not be furthering the Malaysian government's attempts to censor and prosecute its critics."
