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After block, new Facebook group criticising Thai king gains 500,000 members

The Royalist Marketplace group, which had over 1 million members, was blocked within Thailand late on Monday after the digital ministry threatened legal action against Facebook under the countrys Computer Crime Act.

The tension came amid near daily youth-led protests against the government of a former military junta chief and unprecedented calls for reforms of the monarchy, which is illegal to insult in Thailand.

Hours before the restriction, Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a self-exiled academic and prominent critic of the monarchy, set up a new group with a similar name that has gained over half a million members in one day.

Pavin, who lives in Japan, created the original group in April, encouraging once-rare free discussion of the monarchy and royal family members, considered taboo subjects in Thailand.

Requests like this are severe, contravene international human rights law, and have a chilling effect on peoples ability to express themselves, a company spokesperson said.

Thailands lese majeste laws forbid defaming the king with penalties of up to 15 years in prison, and often form the basis for requests to block or remove content on social media.

Thailands digital minister said Facebook was at risk of violating a different law, the Computer Crime Act, in not acting on court orders attached to government requests to block content.

Original article
Author: Patpicha Tanakasempipat

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Patpicha Tanakasempipat has recently written 5 articles on similar topics including :
  1. "Thailand's digital minister has threatened legal action against Facebook and accused the social media giant of not complying with government requests to restrict content deemed illegal, including perceived insults to the country's monarchy". (August 3, 2020)
  2. "Facebook on Monday blocked access within Thailand to a group with 1 million members that discusses the country's king, after the Thai government threatened legal action over failure to take down content deemed defamatory to the monarchy". (August 24, 2020)
  3. "Thailand's digital minister vowed no relent on Wednesday in a crackdown on social media content deemed illegal and said it was unlikely Facebook would follow through on plans to challenge an order to block access to a group critical of the Thai monarchy". (August 26, 2020)
  4. "Facebook Inc has taken down 185 accounts and groups engaged in an information-influencing operation in Thailand run by the military, the company said on Wednesday, the first time it has removed Thai accounts with ties to the government". (March 3, 2021)
  5. "Facebook blocked access within Thailand to a group with 1 million members that has criticised the country's king, but said it was planning a legal challenge to the government's demand that it block the group". (August 25, 2020)
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