Cyber Police Hunt Down Live Sexual Broadcast on Facebook, Warn That Liking and Sharing is Illegal
Thai cyber police are investigating a live sexual broadcast on Facebook and warning that liking or sharing such content carries the same legal penalties as posting it, including up to five years imprisonment.
On May 24, 2569, Deputy Commander Chatchapan Klaiyaklung of the Technology Crime Investigation Division announced the cyber police's response to a live sexual broadcast on Facebook containing obscene material that surfaced the previous night. Cyber police learned of the incident after their social media monitoring team detected the clip and reported it to commanders, who ordered the Technology Crime Investigation Unit to examine the URL and identify the individuals involved. Authorities stated that if the page owner or people in the clip are Thai nationals or residing in Thailand, they will be prosecuted under the Computer Crime Act for uploading obscene material, with maximum severity. The cyber police will also coordinate with Facebook Thailand to investigate why the platform's community standards failed to detect and immediately remove the obscene sexual content, which spread to millions of viewers. Deputy Commander Klaiyaklung emphasized that such content is considered garbage that may inspire imitation, especially among children and youth, and warned the public not to create or share such material as it violates the Computer Crime Act Sections 14(1) and 14(4), carrying penalties of up to 5 years imprisonment, a fine not exceeding 100,000 baht, or both. Importantly, those who like or share such clips face identical penalties as the original poster under Computer Crime Act Section 14(5), which covers anyone who distributes computer data they know to be false or obscene. The deputy commander urged the public to report any such content immediately to the cyber police hotline at 1441.