Thailand warns Facebook to tackle crypto-related scams or face possible shutdown

Quick Take

  • Thailand’s Ministry of Digital Economy and Society threatened to ask a court to shut down Meta’s Facebook over scam ads involving cryptocurrency on its platform, the ministry said.

Thailand’s digital ministry said it plans to take legal action against Meta’s Facebook for alleged cryptocurrency scam ads on the platform unless the social media giant actively tackles the issue. 

In a statement released Monday, the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society said that it plans to ask a local court to shut down Facebook in the country at the end of this month unless the company takes a more active approach to taking down advertisements allegedly related to scams — some involving crypto. 

Reuters reported that the ministry is collecting evidence of wrongdoing by Facebook that would be presented before the court.

Meta did not immediately respond to The Block’s request for comment.

Scam tactics

The ministry said in the statement that the ads under scrutiny lured victims by guaranteeing high returns on what they described as investments, some of them focused on trading digital coins or cryptocurrencies. The scams on Facebook had affected more than 200,000 people, the ministry added.

The scammers often used images of celebrities to gain the attention and trust of victims, according to the ministry.


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About Author

Timmy Shen is an Asia editor for The Block. Previously, he wrote about crypto and Web3 for Forkast.News from Taiwan after spending more than three years in Beijing covering finance, entertainment business and current affairs at Caixin Global and Chinese tech at TechNode. His China-related reporting has also appeared in The Guardian. When he's not chasing headlines, you'll find him savoring hot pot and shabu shabu in a Taipei local haunt. Timmy holds an MS degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Send tips to [email protected] or get in touch on X/Telegram @timmyhmshen.

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