Meta is accused of allowing fake ads and profiles on its social network that promote fraud and cause people to lose money. The Thai government is threatening to close access to Facebook because of the fake ads and profiles that appear on the social network.
As AP reported, Thailand’s Minister of Digital Economy and Society Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn said Facebook allows ads and fake profiles to appear on its service. The fake profiles claim to be “reputable financial and investment advisors offering high profits.” But they ultimately lead to people losing their money through fraud. Thailand has more than 50 million Facebook user accounts.
Thanakamanusorn approached Facebook’s parent company Meta to deal with the problem. But the request only resulted in around 5,000 ads being blocked. Now the minister is threatening to go to criminal court and close access to Facebook in the country.
Meta in Thailand asks that all questions be sent to the press department via email. So far, the Thai government has no further comment on the allegations. Thanakamanusorn takes into account the fact that Norway has at least managed to ban personalized ads that appear on Facebook. This example strengthens Thanakamanusorn’s hand in shutting down access to Facebook.
There are more than 50 million Facebook user accounts in Thailand, a country of about 71 million people. According to government records, more than 300,000 people in the country have been victims of social media fraud.
Facebook was fined 1.3 billion dollars by the EU for failing to ensure the security of users’ Facebook data. It is currently paying a $725 million non-disclosure agreement fee. The fake ads Thailand saw are just the tip of the iceberg. But Meta now wants to help advertisers increase their effectiveness. To do this, it is experimenting with ads generated by artificial intelligence.
Countries blocking access to Facebook
To date, many countries have blocked access to Facebook. These countries are known to be China, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Cuba, Bangladesh, Egypt and Syria. In 2017, President Erdoğan was quoted as saying on ATV-A Haber: ‘If necessary, we will shut down YouTube and Facebook’. Although the reasons for shutting down are different from each other, we can group them all under the heading of ‘security concerns’.
What do you think about this issue? Do social media applications like Facebook jeopardize our personal security? You can share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.
