Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, Thailand, has requested a court to shut down Meta Platforms’ Facebook until it takes action against scams that have affected more than 200,000 individuals.
“We are asking the court to close Facebook, not allowing it to provide services in Thailand if they let these fake pages’ scam people,” Digital minister Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn told Reuters.
The Ministry of Digital Economy and Society said in a statement that despite numerous requests for Facebook to remove adverts it had classified as scams, the issue remained and it would now seek court action.
Wetang Phuangsup, a representative for the ministry, told Reuters that authorities were compiling proof of Facebook’s violation to be used in court.
According to the ministry, Facebook scams include convincing people to invest in phoney businesses, impersonating governmental entities like the Securities and Exchange Commission, and engaging in cryptocurrency trading.
