Facebook, the social media behemoth, has said that it will challenge in court a Thai government order telling it to block a page focusing on the country’s monarchy.
This comes as political protests by students gain momentum.
Earlier this week, following a court order, Facebook blocked access to a private page called Royalist Marketplace with more than one million followers. The page is run by a Thai academic in exile in Japan, Pavin Chachavalpongpun, who fled the country in 2014 following a military coup. The page was set up only in April but rapidly gained followers during the Thai lockdown to combat Covid-19.
According to the Financial Times the page provides ‘uncensored’ gossip and news on the King of Thailand, Maha Wachiralongkon, and the Thai royal family. However, Thailand has unusually severe laws criminalising insulting the monarch, and people found guilty of insulting the king or his family can face prison terms of up to 15 years.
Over the past few months, student protesters have been testing these laws with what the Financial Times calls ‘unprecedented’ demands for restrictions on the monarchy, including abolishing laws which criminalise criticism of the king, and reducing the royal family’s budget.
Following protests earlier this month at Thammasat University in the Thai capital, Bangkok, where 10 demands around the reform of the monarchy were read out, Facebook, Google, and Twitter all received court orders from the Thai government to remove posts.
Said Facebook earlier this week: ‘Requests like this are severe, contravene international human rights law, and have a chilling effect on people’s ability to express themselves. We work to protect and defend the rights of all internet users and are preparing to legally challenge this request.’
Wachiralongkon (whose regal title is Rama X) was crowned last year, and is something of a controversial figure, especially compared to his father, the much respected King Bhumibol. Bhumibol died in 2016 after a reign of 70 years. This is the second-longest reign by a monarch in recorded history – only Louis XIV of France had a longer reign.
[Picture: Public Relations Department, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70926353]