Thailand backs down on Facebook ban threat after site ‘cooperates’ over royal posts

Thai authorities Tuesday backed down on their threat to ban Facebook over posts deemed critical of the royal family after officials said the social networking giant had agreed to expunge such content.

Thailand ferociously enforces a draconian lese-majeste law which outlaws any criticism of the monarchy.

Since ultra-royalist generals seized power three years ago more than 100 people have been charged, many for comments made online, and some people have been jailed for decades.

The authorities have redoubled efforts to purge the Thai web following the October ascension of the country’s new king Maha Vajiralongkorn.

Last week Thailand’s telecom regulator, the NBTC, said it would file a police complaint against Facebook’s Thailand office and shut down the hugely popular site if it did not remove more than 130 “illegal” posts by Tuesday.

“Facebook is cooperating with Thailand,” Takorn Tantasith, secretary general of the NBTC told reporters after the 10am deadline passed.