Thai officials crack down on social media posts

Be careful about what’s posted on social media. Thai authorities are keeping tabs on popular websites. Statements that cause unrest or mislead the public might break the law. Thousands of pages were reported to Thailand’s Ministry of Digital Economy and Society in the past week. About half are in violation of the Computer Crimes Act.

Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and TikTok are common social media platforms the ministry is cracking down on. Some pages have orders to be taken down. 3,083 social media pages and websites were reported to the ministry from August 7 to 17. Minister of the Digital Economy Society Buddhipongse Punnakanta says 1,395 are in violation of the Computer Crimes Act.

While the minister did not give any information on the social media or website content, the warning comes at a time of ongoing pro-democracy protests.

Facebook has the most violators with 1,014 pages breaking the law. YouTube has 226 clips violating the act, Twitter has 121 messages and TikTok has 9 posts. The minister says 25 website sites also violate the act.

“Ministry officials have collected evidence and submitted it to the Thai Court.”

The Thai Court ordered 653 social media pages and websites to be removed, the minister says, but some pages remain active.

“However, there are many social media pages that have ignored the court order; hence those who don’t obey the court order to close, will face a fine of 200,000 baht or 5,000 baht per day until they improve their content in line with Section 27 of the Computer Crimes Act.”

SOURCE: Xinhua