Thailand backs down on Facebook ban, Latest World News - The New Paper
World

Thailand backs down on Facebook ban

This article is more than 12 months old

BANGKOK: Thai authorities yesterday backed down on threats to ban Facebook over posts deemed critical of the royal family after officials said the social network had agreed to expunge such content.

The authorities have redoubled efforts to purge the Thai web following the October ascension of the country's new king Maha Vajiralongkorn.

Last week, Thailand's telecom regulator, the NBTC, said it would file a police complaint against Facebook's Thailand office and shut down the website if it did not remove more than 130 "illegal" posts.

"Facebook is cooperating with Thailand," Mr Takorn Tantasith, secretary general of the NBTC, told reporters.

Thai authorities last week said Facebook had already removed 170 posts. It declined to comment on how many posts it had made unavailable in Thailand since the recent requests.

In its published policies, Facebook says it will comply with a country's request to remove content if it receives a valid court order. - AFP

social mediathailand