This article is more than 8 years old

This article is more than 8 years old

A Thai court has sentenced a webmaster to an eight-month suspended sentence for failing to act quickly enough to remove internet posts deemed insulting to the country's royalty.

The ruling showed leniency against Chiranuch Premchaiporn, who faced up to 20 years in prison for 10 comments posted on her Prachatai website, but still sends the message that internet content in Thailand must be self-censored.

The case was widely seen as a test of freedom of expression in Thailand, where Chiranuch was the first webmaster prosecuted under tough cyberlaws enacted after a 2006 coup.

Judge Kampol Rungrat said his guilty verdict was based on one particular post that was left on the site for 20 days.

She "did not perform her duty in a timely manner", the judge said, and "allowed the inappropriate posting to be on the website for too long".

Chiranuch was initially given a one-year suspended sentence, immediately reduced to eight months. An additional fine was imposed of 20,000 baht (£400), which she paid with help from supporters and colleagues.

"I expected to be acquitted, but I found the judge's verdict logical and reasonable," a smiling Chiranuch told reporters. "However, I still think the verdict will have an impact on self-censorship."

New York-based Human Rights Watch has said prosecuting Chiranuch sent "a chilling message to webmasters and internet companies".

Her case, which drew international attention, has been inextricably linked to Thailand's fractious politics of recent years, as the country's traditional ruling class, allying big business, the military and royalists, has been desperately fighting to retain reverence for the monarchy and their influence over politics.

Most people still respect 84-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej, but the evident involvement of palace circles in supporting the 2006 military coup against elected prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra opened the royal institution to unprecedented criticism, much of which was circulated on the internet.

Prachatai was founded by several respected journalists, senators and press freedom activists to serve as an independent, non-profit, daily internet newspaper. It has attracted an audience of critics of the status quo, especially on the now-defunct web board where the comments at issue in the court case were posted between April and November 2008.

Thailand's freedom of speech reputation has taken a battering in recent years, with its standing in the Press Freedom Index issued by the Paris-based group Reporters Without Borders sliding to 137th out of 179 last year from 65th in 2002, when the ratings were initiated.