Thailand Threatens to Sever Access to Facebook Over Crypto Scams

The Government of Thailand Threatens to Sever Access to Facebook Due to Crypto Scams

The government of Thailand is planning to shut down Facebook in the country due to the increasing prevalence of cryptocurrency and other scams on the platform. The Digital Economy and Society (DES) Ministry will use Thailand’s strict computer crime laws to file charges against Facebook and the scammers it allows on the platform.

The DES Ministry will request a criminal court order to shut down Facebook in Thailand.
Thailand’s strict computer crime laws will be leveraged to file charges against Facebook and scammers.
Facebook has failed to screen fraud and prevent pages sponsoring scams.
The Thai Police will also file lawsuits against the scammers in both criminal and civil courts.
Around 70% of online scams in Thailand occur on Facebook.

The issue is exacerbated by the fact that Facebook has a massive user base in Thailand, with 65 million users. There have been around 300,000 complaints regarding Facebook fraud in both criminal and civil courts.

Social Media Scams Rife on Facebook and WhatsApp

Scammers continually evolve to evade Facebook’s algorithms, according to the country director for Meta in Thailand. In 2022, the Australian financial watchdog sued Meta for publishing crypto scams on Facebook. In 2021, a California class-action lawsuit accused the company of working with scammers through misleading ads and targeting users.

Additionally, WhatsApp, owned by Meta, is also becoming a hotbed for scammers who try to deceive users into giving away their money.