Govt gives Facebook a reprieve
The Digital Economy and Society Ministry yesterday decided against shutting down the content delivery network (CDN) originating Facebook’s server even though 131 illicit webpages remained accessible in Thailand as a regime-imposed deadline that it remove some posts passed.
Takorn Tantasith, secretary-general of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), said Thai authorities decided not to go ahead with the shutdown because Facebook had yet to receive court orders involving these web addresses.
The NBTC demanded Facebook remove 131 pages deemed illegal by the Criminal Court by 10am yesterday.
The Thai Internet Service Provider Association (Tispa) was told to shut down the CDN of www.facebook.com and other parts of the network to block such illegal content if the social media giant failed to remove the content.
The CDN is a system of distributed servers that deliver webpages and other web content to a user based on the user’s geographical location and the origin of the webpage.
Mr Takorn yesterday went to the Tispa head office to see whether the illicit URLs were taken down. However, after the deadline passed, the 131 illicit webpages remained accessible.
The targeted webpages contain content deemed a security threat or in violation of the strict lese majeste laws.
He said the ministry would forward the court orders involving the offences committed by 34 webpages by yesterday. These web addresses are expected to be blocked within 24 hours.
He said the NBTC and the ministry are serious about enforcing the law and taking down the illicit webpages, but they need to work together to ensure efficiency.
Mr Takorn said the ministry will ask the Technology Crime Suppression Division to speed up its cases against the remaining 97 webpages so that they are blocked within this month.
According to Mr Takorn, Thai authorities are satisfied with the cooperation from Facebook which has blocked many illicit webpages, reducing their number from 309 to 131, as of last Friday.
“The NBTC and the ministry are satisfied with the cooperation they received from Facebook. The social media giant is expected to remove the illicit webpages within 24 hours of receiving the court orders,” he said.
Mr Takorn added that the regulator expects long term cooperation from the social media giant as the number of illicit webpages continues to grow.
The secretary-general also added that all social media operating in Thailand has to follow Thai laws. All state agencies and regulators have to strictly follow any court order or they could be in violation of Section 157 of the Criminal Code which prohibit state officers from any action that causes damage to the state.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said the government cannot force Facebook to shut down the illegal webpages and all it can do is seek cooperation.
“We are asking for cooperation from the private sector and those responsible [for maintaining the webpages] but we do need court orders to back our requests,” he said.