Opinion | Thai protest misinformation a reminder of how easily fake news can spread on social media

Name: Thailand anti-government protests continue for fifth day as demonstrations stretch beyond Bangkok
Uploaded: 2020-10-23T00:45:18.000Z
Duration: 3 min 45 s
Description: Thailand anti-government protests continue for fifth day as demonstrations stretch beyond Bangkok

Hongkongers love to get and share news via social media, but it’s important to avoid spreading misinformation, which erodes trust in institutions and disconnects and divides people. We should all stop, reflect and verify before forwarding that link

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Protesters, some in ancient Thai warrior costumes, flash the three-fingered salute after occupying the Democracy Monument in Bangkok, Thailand, on October 14. The Thai demonstrations have been attracting large crowds, but many video clips and photos being shared on social media are unrelated to the protests. Photo: AP

Bernard Chan

Published: 8:45am, 23 Oct 2020Updated: 8:45am, 23 Oct 2020

I opened my WhatsApp last Saturday to find a video forwarded by a friend. It appeared to show a violent incident between police and demonstrators in Bangkok, the scene of recent anti-government protests. In the video, police officers are crouching behind a row of shields. Suddenly, a grenade is tossed at them. The scene explodes with a bang and a cloud of smoke.

My Hong Kong friend texted: “Is this what’s happening in Thailand now?” I looked at the clip again. It showed no source or identification. Something seemed off. I knew the Thai demonstrations had been attracting large crowds, but my network of family and friends in Bangkok had not mentioned such violence to me. Had things suddenly taken a turn?

After searching on Google, I discovered the original version of the video: on the BBC. The grenade attack was definitely real news – from 2014.

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Thailand anti-government protests continue for fifth day as demonstrations stretch beyond Bangkok

This past week, my Hong Kong friends and contacts, wanting to know my take on the Thai situation, have been sending me WhatsApp texts and emails with videos, photos and links galore.

Some showed angry “Bangkok” mobs throwing rocks and setting fires. These were easy to confirm as false: the demonstrators were speaking Bahasa, not Thai. They were clips from demonstrations in Indonesia, where workers were protesting against a labour bill earlier this month. Many friends, upon seeing these unlabelled, unlinked videos pop up in their feed, assumed they were coming from Bangkok.

Another photo making the rounds allegedly showed some young Thai students facing a wall, kneeling and handcuffed with zip ties. Police aggression in Thailand? No – the picture was from Kowloon last year, and the young people were Hongkongers – as a Thai police spokesman quickly confirmed during a press conference.

These photos and videos, passed with a quick click from group to group and friend to friend via WhatsApp, Twitter and Facebook, spread like wildfire – and along with them, misinformation about the Thailand situation.

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How demonstrators in Thailand marshall anti-government protests with hand signs