Thailand’s government is considering taking legal action against Meta’s Facebook in the country, following a series of scams that have impacted over 200,000 individuals.
Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn, the country’s digital minister, revealed that if Facebook fails to address these scams, the government plans to ask a court to shut down Facebook’s operations in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy.
Speaking to Reuters, Chaiwut stated, “We are requesting the court to close Facebook’s services in Thailand if they continue to allow these fraudulent pages to deceive people.” The Ministry of Digital Economy and Society disclosed that it had previously requested Facebook to remove scam-related advertisements multiple times, but the social media giant had not taken any action. Therefore, the ministry intends to seek court intervention.
As of now, officials are gathering evidence to substantiate allegations against Facebook, which will be presented in court. Wetang Phuangsup, a spokesperson for the ministry, explained, “If significant wrongdoing is proven, the court has the authority to shut down specific pages or accounts, or even the entire platform.”
The scams on Facebook primarily involve enticing users to invest in fake companies, impersonating government entities such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, and engaging in fraudulent trading of digital currencies, according to the ministry. Chaiwut emphasized, “Operating in this manner is unacceptable for them.”
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has not yet responded to requests for comment regarding this situation.
Earlier, Norway’s data protection agency said on Tuesday it would start fining Facebook and Instagram owner Meta nearly $100,000 per day for defying a ban on using users’ personal information to target ads.
The Norwegian watchdog, Datatilsynet, said Meta would be fined one million kroner ($97,000) per day, starting August 14.
Tobias Judin, head of Datatilsynet’s international department, said the fine related to a decision made on July 14, where the agency had temporarily “imposed a ban on behavioural advertising on Facebook and Instagram”.
“Meta’s behavioural advertising entails intrusive surveillance of its users, negatively impacting their right to data protection and freedom of information,” Judin said in an email, adding that there were many vulnerable groups on the platforms, such as “young people, the elderly and people with cognitive disabilities”.
