Talks on FB content filter ‘promising’

Further cooperation with Facebook is needed to prevent people from posting violent content on the popular social networking platform, the House committee on communications, telecommunications and digital economy and society said yesterday.

The statement came after the committee hailed talks yesterday with Facebook Thailand executives as a “good sign” for future cooperation, though its representatives did not give “clear answers” on some issues, said the committee’s vice chairman and Bhumjaithai Party MP Settapong Malisuwan, without elaborating.

His committee earlier cancelled a meeting with the California-based social media giant after its representatives failed to take part in talks called by the panel following the mass shooting in Nakhon Ratchasima on Feb 8.

Soldier-turned-shooter Jakrapanth Thomma streamed his rampage on Facebook Live and posted a selfie showing himself holding a rifle. “Tired, I can barely move my fingers,” he said in a video posted in the evening during his shooting spree.

His Facebook page was taken down moments later. Facebook later confirmed that it had removed the account and would also take down “any other violating content related to this attack”.

However, the government claimed the attacker’s page was only taken down after a request to Facebook from the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society.

The shooting left 30 people dead, including the perpetrator, and 58 others wounded.

In the wake of the live broadcast of the massacre, the committee yesterday asked Facebook whether it has collected statistics on violent posts and analysed the trend.

Replying, Facebook representatives said they “do not conduct [special] analysis”, but they agreed to work with the Thai government on “message management”, said committee chairwoman and Palang Pracharath MP for Saraburi Kanlaya Rungwichitchai.