Thailand’s DES Ministry plans legal action against Facebook over scam complicity

Thailand’s Digital Economy and Society (DES) Ministry is preparing a legal case seeking the shutdown of Facebook within the country, accusing the social media giant of collusion with fraudulent operators. The ministry alleges that Facebook has been complicit in aiding scammers, who utilised the platform’s sponsored pages to deceive Thai citizens into making investments. The ministry plans to invoke the computer crime law in its case against Facebook and the identified scammers.

According to DES Minister Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn, Facebook’s failure to adequately monitor fraudulent activity on its site, despite pleas for cooperation from the ministry and other related agencies, has led to the current situation. Sponsored pages on Facebook are essentially paid advertisements that are displayed to selected audiences.

The Royal Thai Police are simultaneously preparing to file similar lawsuits, both criminal and civil, against the fraudulent parties and Facebook. In these cases, the social media platform will be charged with alleged complicity and facilitation of fraud. Alongside the DES Ministry, the lawsuits will be supported by other significant entities, including the Electronic Transactions Development Agency, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Royal Thai Police.

Minister Chaiwut highlighted the magnitude of the online scam issue, stating that approximately 70% of all online investment scams in Thailand occur via Facebook. He underscored the severity of the situation by citing instances where the identities of large corporations and high-profile individuals were falsely used to create deceptive content to lure potential investors.

Facebook, with its user base of 65 million in Thailand, has acknowledged the escalating problem of scams. The company attributed its failure to keep pace with the rapidly evolving tactics of scammers to the limitations of its artificial intelligence. This technological shortfall leads to delays in scam detection and subsequent action.

Further straining the relationship between the DES Ministry and Facebook, the latter did not send a representative to a recent meeting convened to discuss the issue. Minister Chaiwut revealed that the ministry has been in dialogue with Facebook for several years, discussing the increasing harm caused by fraudulent investment content.

While Facebook has cooperated with the ministry in blocking such pages, new ones continue to emerge, rendering the efforts insufficient. Minister Chaiwut emphasised that Facebook should take more proactive measures, such as screening users or accounts that sponsor pages promoting fraudulent investment schemes.

Highlighting the seriousness of the situation, Chaiwut reported that approximately 300,000 complaints relating to fraud have been lodged in both criminal and civil courts by individuals and regulatory bodies. It is Facebook’s responsibility to bolster its screening process to help eliminate fraud, particularly on sponsored pages, as these pages generate advertising revenue for the platform, Chaiwut said.

The ministry issued a warning to the public to be vigilant and not fall prey to such scams, which often promise high returns in a short period and use images of celebrities and popular business figures to lend credibility to their false claims. The scammers typically urge people to invest quickly to avoid missing out on the promised high returns, reported Bangkok Post.