What is the involvement of Facebook in Thailand’s pro-democracy activism?

Facebook has said that it is going to initiate a legal challenge against a Thai government order to take down a group where discussions about the monarchy, a sensitive context, was held by the pro-democracy activists in the country.

The group

  • A private Facebook group named “Royalist Marketplace”, was created in the month of April that gained more than a million followers.
  • The platform was a place for discussion on the monarchy, including political role and reform proposals.

Issues

    • The common people of Thailand have always expressed their grievances against the over-powerful King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
    • Their demand for transparency of palace finances, scrapping of defamation law and drafting of a new constitution following the dissolution of the Parliament created a concern to the government.
    • Facebook had reportedly been forced by the Thai government to remove the group in order to suppress their voice.
  • The issue of the Thai monarchy is a sensitive subject that is safeguarded by protective defamation law. In case of the violation, one can be sentenced to up to 15 years.
  • The NGO named Human Rights Watch strongly condemned the abolition of the freedom of expression.
  • Asia Advocacy Director John Sifton desired a strong action from Facebook to protect the human rights of the people of Thailand.

 

Facebook’s stance

  • According to Facebook the incident of taking away people’s expressions is a violation of human rights law.
  • In order to protect and defend the rights of all internet users, they will legally oppose the order.

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