Thailand threatens legal action against Facebook

The digital minister of Thailand, Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn, has announced his intention to request a court order to close Facebook in Thailand if it does not take action against scams that have defrauded over 200,000 individuals. He informed Reuters that they are seeking a legal order to prohibit Facebook’s services in Thailand if they continue to permit fraudulent pages that deceive users. The objective is to prevent the proliferation of fake pages and protect the public from scams.

The official statement released by the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society stated that Facebook has failed to take down ads that have been identified as scams despite repeated requests to do so. As a result, the Ministry has decided to pursue legal action to address the ongoing issue.
According to Wetang Phuangsup, a spokesperson for the Ministry, evidence of Facebook’s alleged misconduct is currently being collected by officials and will be presented in court. Depending on the severity of the violations, the court may order the closure of individual pages or accounts or even the entire platform.

The Ministry further emphasized how Facebook has been used as a platform for scams which involve deceiving users into investing in fraudulent companies, impersonating government agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, and engaging in digital currency trading. Chaiwut emphasized that such activities are unacceptable and expressed his disapproval of such business practices.