In order to shut down Facebook services in the kingdom, Digital Economy and Society Minister Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn will ask a court for a ruling later this month. He will accuse the company of failing to stop false advertisements that did significant harm to individuals.
At a press conference on Monday, Mr. Chaiwut stated that his government had unsuccessfully attempted to request that Facebook prohibit false advertisements.
Because he said Facebook did not vet the individuals who purchased its advertising space, he intended to seek a court order by the end of this month to order the shutdown of Facebook services in Thailand within seven days.
The minister claimed that fake advertising featured invites to investment schemes that made excessively high profit claims while displaying the insignia of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Stock Exchange of Thailand. They also included allusions to famous people and wealthy investors.
Advertisements for goods that weren’t delivered or weren’t delivered correctly also appeared, according to Mr. Chaiwut.
According to the minister, there were roughly 200,000 Facebook users who fell victim to these bogus ads, and their losses totaled more than 100 billion Thai Baht.
