Thailand Threatens To Close Facebook If It Doesn't Deal With Investment And Crypto Fraud Ads

Minister of Digital Economy and the Community, Chaiwut Thanamanusorn, (photo: twitter @chaiwut96592378)

JAKARTA - On August 21, Thailand's Ministry of Digital Economy and Society announced plans to seek an order to terminate Facebook if the platform does not take steps to address investment fraud ads and cryptocurrencies allegedly appearing on the platform.

The ministry states that more than 200,000 people have been deceived by advertising on Facebook that promises crypto scam schemes, investments in fake businesses, and pretends to be government agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Fraudsters use a variety of popular tactics, including investment fraud schemes and crypto trading. Several ads are also suspected of using images of celebrities and well-known financial figures with a promise of daily returns of up to 30% to attract people into the scam scheme.

The Minister of Digital Economy and the Society, Chaiwut Thanamanusorn, said that his party had spoken and sent a letter to the platform owned by Meta regarding this issue, but it was claimed that the platform failed to filter advertisers.

Currently, the ministry is gathering evidence related to this fraudulent advertisement, which amounts to more than 5,300 ads. At the end of the month, the ministry plans to ask the court to close Facebook within seven days.

The ministry also warns about how such fraudulent schemes usually operate, by reminding consumers to be careful of high returns and guaranteed, as well as advertisements that use pictures of famous figures.

Investments that provide pressure or incentives to immediately invest with limited offers must also be handled carefully, as well as businesses or platforms without verifiable information.