Pornography on Facebook? Thai users report that searching ‘May’ reveals explicit content
Update: The words 'why' and 'is' on Facebook are now showing adult content
Thai Facebook users have raised fresh concerns about the platform’s content filtering after discovering that searching the word “May” can return unexpected and inappropriate results, which include pornographic videos.
The issue, reported yesterday and becoming more noticeable today, appears to affect both the mobile app and desktop versions of the platform.
Users have shared screenshots online showing that entering May, a common Thai female name and the name of a month, in the search bar can display adult content near the top of the results.
This has caused concern amongst social media users in Thailand, since this is an issue in the algorithm that could expose and make accessible uncouth and pornographic material, including minors.
Currently, various memes and posts have emerged, warning others about this, either through humour, as seen in the image below, or simply by posting with the word ‘May’.
Early speculation suggests that the glitch may stem from a failure in Facebook’s search algorithms or AI moderation tools, which are supposed to automatically screen and block explicit material from being indexed or displayed.
For now, it is unclear whether this issue is isolated to users in Thailand or if it’s occurring in other regions. As of now, Meta, Facebook’s parent company, has not stated the cause of the error or how they are planning to address it.
Experts in digital safety note that this type of glitch highlights the broader challenges social media platforms face in monitoring massive volumes of user-generated content. With Thailand being one of the world’s most active social media markets, such slip-ups can have significant consequences.
Update: There are now reports that searching up the words “why” and “is” on the Facebook search will show similar adult content.
A word to the wise: until the issue is resolved, you may want to avoid searching for this specific name or month on the BTS commute or in public.
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