Why did Facebook block 1 million people in this country in one fell swoop?

Bangkok, August 25, 2020, Tuesday

Facebook has blocked a group of 1 million people commenting on the King of Thailand. Social media, a powerful medium for freedom of speech and expression, is gaining momentum. For some time now, young people have been protesting against the monarchical model of governance in Thailand, and this has been reflected on social media, such as Facebook. Facebook has seen a flurry of protesters blocking the accounts of critics of the monarchy on its own platform.

According to the information received, a group called Royalist Marketplace has been created by Pavin Chachavalpongpu, a critic of the monarchy, last April. The message blocking the group states that the group is banned in Thailand on the legal recommendation of the Ministry of Social Economy. Facebook has defended the move as the government prepares to take legal action against it.

The Thai government has also accused Facebook of disobeying the government. On August 10, a Thai court ordered the removal of objectionable material against the monarchy and the government, with 15 days to comply. If Facebook did not do so, it would be prosecuted under Thailand's computer crime law, which also provides for financial penalties.

Under Thai law, contempt of the king is punishable by up to 15 years in prison for treason. Thus the position of Facebook between the government and the reformist agitators became like a beetle between suds. However, the group's manager, who lives in Japan, alleged that Facebook had acted under pressure from the army-controlled government. His group has responded to the news agency by being part of the democratization process and a means of expression. As many as 4.55 lakh people joined the new group after it was blocked.

The role of social media has been important in the internal question movements in various countries for some time now. Especially in the Corona era, the world has begun to reverberate with people using social media as a medium of expression instead of going out and performing in groups. As social media becomes a more powerful medium in the future, restrictions and laws on it will become a more complex problem.