The Thai government has initiated a move to seek a legal shutdown of Mark Zuckerberg's social media platform, Facebook, within the country. This action is in response to the platform's alleged association with fraudulent investment advertisements. During a meeting held on August 21, Chaiwut Thanakmanusorn, the Minister of Digital Economy and Society (MDES), along with other prominent ministry members, discussed the security concerns linked to the platform. The allegations state that Facebook misled over 200,000 individuals through deceptive cryptocurrency scams.
According to the report, Facebook is alleged to have played a role in manipulating the public to invest in fictitious businesses and government entities. The platform allegedly accepted advertising fees from these scammers who took advantage of the community by promoting cryptocurrency trading scams promising daily returns of up to 30%.
The perpetrators also utilized images and photographs of well-known individuals to lure the community. Highlighting that the overall monetary loss amounts to a substantial 10 billion Thai Baht. Minister Chaiwut further emphasized:
“Thai authorities have raised the issue with Facebook many times, asking it to screen for fake advertisements on its platform. It has, however, failed to help us in tackling the scams.”
Given the urgency of the situation, the ministry is currently investigating the evidence related to the fraudulent advertisements. As outlined in the report, it is believed that the number of these misleading advertisements exceeds 5,300.
During the press briefing, the ministry emphasized its intention to proceed with its plan to request court intervention to shut down Facebook within seven days if the platform does not demonstrate an intent to address the issue.
Furthermore, Minister Chaiwut said:
"If Facebook wishes to continue doing business in Thailand, it must take more responsibility in this matter."
