Facebook may sue Thai government after complying with demand to block group discussing monarchy

Thailand has strict lèse-majesté laws that forbid defaming the king, and the Thai government has threatened Facebook with legal action

Meanwhile, Thai police said they had arrested human rights lawyer Anon Nampa for a third time this month, to charge him for sedition

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A pro-democracy protester during a rally outside the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority headquarters. Photo: AFP

Published: 10:13am, 25 Aug 2020Updated: 1:29am, 26 Aug 2020

Facebook on Monday blocked access within Thailand to a group with 1 million members that discusses the country’s king, after the Thai government threatened legal action over failure to take down content deemed defamatory to the monarchy.

But on Tuesday, Facebook said it would legally challenge the government’s request to restrict access in Thailand to the group.

“After careful review, Facebook has determined that we are compelled to restrict access to content which the Thai government has deemed to be illegal,” a Facebook representative said in a statement.

However, the company said it had done so reluctantly. “Requests like this are severe, contravene international human rights law, and have a chilling effect on people’s ability to express themselves,” the statement from Facebook said. “We work to protect and defend the rights of all internet users and are preparing to legally challenge this request.”

There have been near daily youth-led protests against the government led by the former military junta chief and unprecedented calls for reforms of the monarchy.