Thailand protests: Twitter suspends royalist account linked to pro-monarchy influence campaign

The pro-monarchy @jitarsa_school account, which had more than 48,000 followers, said it trained people for Thailand’s Royal Volunteers programme

It was suspended for violating rules on spam and platform manipulation after posting tweets that sought to amplify royalist messaging

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A group of Thailand’s ‘royal volunteers’ prepare to do painting and gardening work at the Temple of Dawn in Thonburi, Bangkok, last year. Photo: Reuters

Published: 9:34am, 30 Nov 2020Updated: 10:29pm, 30 Nov 2020

Twitter has suspended a Thai pro-royalist account linked to the palace that an analysis found was connected to thousands of others created in recent weeks spreading posts in favour of King Maha Vajiralongkorn and the monarchy.

The review by Reuters found tens of thousands of tweets that an expert said appeared to be from accounts amplifying royalist messaging in a push to counter a months-long protest movement that has swollen from opposing the government to breaking a long-standing taboo by challenging the monarchy.

Internal army training documents showed evidence of a coordinated information campaign designed to spread favourable information and discredit opponents.

The pro-monarchy @jitarsa_school account was suspended after reporters sought comment on Wednesday from Twitter on the recent royalist campaign on the social media platform, where protesters have long had a strong presence.

A computer screen shows the suspended pro-royalist @jitarsa_school Twitter account in Bangkok on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

Protesters and royalists have cited the importance of social media in propelling the protest movement, which has become the biggest challenge in decades to the monarchy as well as the government of former junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha.

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