BANGKOK, Thailand – Thailand plans to amend regulations to hold social media platforms legally liable for illegal content, the digital minister said on Monday, following a series of explicit livestreams broadcast on Meta’s Facebook over the weekend. Digital Economy and Society (DES) Minister Chaichanok Chidchob rejected Meta’s initial explanation that a technical glitch caused its artificial intelligence (AI) to miss the content, calling the excuse unacceptable.
Chaichanok convened an urgent meeting with cybercrime police and Meta executives after continuous explicit livestreams on Saturday lasted for up to eight hours. Chaichanok told reporters that Meta had admitted to a technical error following recent back-end updates. He added that the perpetrators appeared to operate systematically, using “benign content” tactics by mixing compliant footage with explicit material to bypass automated moderation algorithms.
Five fake accounts linked to the broadcasts have since been removed. Chaichanok said Meta has escalated the issue to its global team, with further talks scheduled for Tuesday. The minister said the government aims to amend regulations to hold platform owners jointly liable if negligence is found, mirroring Thai laws that target “mule” bank accounts used by scammers. Under current rules, platforms are exempt from liability if they cooperate by removing offending content within 24 hours of notification.
The operation involved five inauthentic accounts using attractive profile pictures to lure viewers, peaking at tens of thousands of concurrent viewers, according to Police Major General Niwate Arpawasin, deputy chief of the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau. The broadcasters used masks and conversational setups to evade AI detection, later using the traffic to promote illegal gambling websites, Niwate said.
Thai authorities are coordinating with Meta to trace the account owners. Niwate noted that if the perpetrators are located overseas, Thailand will work with Interpol, though he acknowledged that legal action could be complicated as some countries lack laws against the dissemination of such material. Cyber police warned that both the creators and anyone sharing the explicit clips will face prosecution. (TNA)
