Fake news: Nine people arrested by AFNC

 

Image: Daily News

 

Thailand Anti-Fake News Center announced yesterday that they have arrested nine people for sharing fake news on Facebook from may 25th to June 5th.

 

Three were connected to bogus stories about Covid-19 and a further six made erroneous claims about the government's cash bailout to the needy. 

 

The AFNC working with the ministry of digital economy and society said that fake news is on the wane since January.

 

But they reminded people they could be jailed for five years for spreading fake news and/or fined 100,000 baht. Fines and jail time are still in place for breaching rules about the emergency decree.

 

The nine cases were as follows (names omitted).

 

1. A woman claimed that another woman fell down from Covid-19 at a shopping center in Rayong.

2. A man in Suphanburi claimed that garlic could cure the virus.

3. A woman in Chonburi shared a story about ginger, honey and other extracts curing Covid-19.

 

4-9 all related to stories across six provinces in which people said that information lodged to claim the 5,000 baht government handouts was being used by the state to extract tax payments from the public. 

 

Source: Daily News

 

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These are really petty excuses to arrest people is this Thailand Thai people want?
Didn't the government also claim a cocktail cured COVID19?
Will the government also be arrested for releasing any fake news?
Didn't think so!

24 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

 

But they reminded people they could be jailed for five years for spreading fake news

In the news the other day a guy DUI in his Merc,killed

2 young students,he only got 4 years !, spreading fake

news about garlic could get you 5 years.unbelievable.

regards worgeordie

 

This news story would seem to undermine the argument put forward by several posters that the government must be telling us something near the truth on infections and deaths from Covid 19 otherwise common Thai people would be posting stuff all over social media to refute it. 

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

Three were connected to bogus stories about Covid-19

They'd have a field day if they read Thai Visa.

3 minutes ago, Phil McCaverty said:

They'd have a field day if they read Thai Visa.

Maybe. But, they prob aren't worried too much as there are only about fifty of us who regularly post and read posts on here and none of our English-language posts would ever go viral in Thai social media. 

Edited June 6, 20206 yr by JCP108

No surprise there is a center for fake news here is there hub of erroneous claims made day after day by old men in uniforms ???? 

15 minutes ago, Phil McCaverty said:

They'd have a field day if they read Thai Visa.

Indeed they would. All they have to do is get hold of my ignore list and they'd have a spiffing day!

So, no arrests of any people who shared posts about somtam protecting people from the virus?

1 minute ago, JCP108 said:

So, no arrests of any people who shared posts about somtam protecting people from the virus?

That's not fake news. Prayut swears by it.

2 hours ago, rooster59 said:

The nine cases were as follows (names omitted).

What? No officials arrested for falsely claiming a crackdown on corruption??? Mmmmm!????

Ironically, if I posted glaringly obvious fake news such as…

 

“Thailand, a trailblazing champion of true democracy. A land where milk and honey flows and all strata of the population enjoy equal rights. A realm that serves as a shining beacon to a world mired in darkness. A hub of culture, ingenuity, goodwill and human decency. A place where press freedom, empowerment of the poor, fairness and honesty are held up high, while greed, nepotism, corruption, xenophobia and racism are universally despised. A kingdom that blossoms and grows under a stable, most capable, selfless and righteous government and is blessed with politicians and state officials tirelessly working for a better society and who at all times have the happiness and wellbeing of every single citizen at their heart.”

 

…I wouldn’t have to fear anything.

 

But let me praise the benefits of garlic, and 5 years in the slammer it is. Or even worse: Posting something contrary to the above and I might well end up floating in the Mekong as a corpse.

3 hours ago, worgeordie said:

In the news the other day a guy DUI in his Merc,killed

2 young students,he only got 4 years !, spreading fake

news about garlic could get you 5 years.unbelievable.

regards worgeordie

 

Don,t forget the young lady, still in jail I believe, who got 15 years for possession of one tenth of a gram of coke, incredible ????

3 hours ago, PatOngo said:

What? No officials arrested for falsely claiming a crackdown on corruption??? Mmmmm!????

No prostitutes in Pattaya

we have ginger, garlic, green tea, lemon every day, sure cannot hurt

12 minutes ago, Bender Rodriguez said:

we have ginger, garlic, green tea, lemon every day, sure cannot hurt

Be careful talking about garlic.

While I do find some of the sentences a bit harsh, I generally think it isn't a bad concept. That being said, it's a slippery slope and can quite easily be abused by those in power.

 

Though I am not just talking about people spreading dangerous bs and superstitions (ie "garlic cures covid"), but also about journalists deliberately twisting the truth, using half truths and/or telling a certain narrative, especially if it leads to extreme division (as has been happening in the US for the last years, and is currently happening with BLM, AntiFa, etc.), violence and racial hatred, etc.

 

There should be independent bodies, watching over journalism. It used to be that a journalists job was to tell the truth. Or at least facts (as truth can be very subjective), and thus allow the reader/watcher to form their own opinion, based on those facts. There has always been some fiddling with that (ie through omission of other facts, giving a more complete/different over all picture), but not nearly as bad as it is nowadays.

 

Nowadays facts don't matter so much anymore, and it's all about narrative and agenda. Sometimes it's the editors/owners (or both), sometimes it's the journalist themselves, sometimes a combination of the two or even all three. A very good and somewhat recent example is the tale of Tommy Robinson, who is derided as a right wing extremist, fascist, neo nazi, etc. His life and reputation, as well as those of some of the people around him, especially early members of the EDL (who came from all sorts of background, including ethnic and included Blacks, Indians - the actual Indians, not American "Indians" - and others).

 

It got to the point, that even when Tommy could prove that the media was lying about him, and he tried to sue for defamation of character, his suit was dismissed. The explanation was simply: His reputation had already been so thoroughly soiled and ruined, that basically it didn't matter anymore, what they wrote about him.

 

This is just one of many examples in recent years. And if the media can do it to him, rest assured they can do it to you and anyone else. They've been doing it to Trump ever since he announced he was running for president (again) in 2015, as a Republican (as opposed to Democrat, where he as a lifelong member before).

 

If they can do it a sitting US President, who's also one of the 1%, then no one is safe. Their simplest, yet best and most effective, weapon is the sound byte. It makes it so extremely easy, to play statements taken completely out of context, in order to paint someone as the devil. Yes, Trump has said some dumb <deleted> in his time, and yes, he can be very "offensive" (personally I don't get offended very rarely, but I know that other people get offended easily in this PC day and age, so whatever), but the "worst" and most "outrageous" stuff was almost (keyword being almost) exclusively presented via soundbytes and printed statements, that were not in context at all...

 

 

Anyway... while I'm generally opposed to locking people up for exercising their right to free speech, I do think there should be some consequences for people stirring up panic (ie spreading false news during times like COVID, especially when it first started and most people dind't know what to expect, what's going on), who spread obviously false and extremely irresponsible stuff (xyz will cure you, so don't worry, or even worse, and I hear that one alot: "There is no COVID, it's all <deleted>. IT#s just a regular flu/pneumonia/whatever") and such. Obviously don't look them up for years, but some sort of punishment.

 

UNLESS there is a direct connection between them spreading it, and something really bad happening, ie "Garlic cures COVID", leading to facebook friend x replying "ok, thanks for the hint Y", then going out without mask, not keeping distance and getting infected, infecting others, and maybe X even dying. Then Y should be punished far harsher, as Y directly caused X to get infected and infecting others, leading to involuntary manslaughter and such.

Durian definitely aids Social Distancing.

Stick peppers up your nose, don't drink water between 10 am and midnight.  Drink only seawater during this time.  

Apply seaweed to your scalp and walk in the sun.

It helps.  

On 5/29/2020 at 12:14 PM, Grumpy John said:

A company has to weigh all options before making a big investment anywhere in the world.  Thailand may be appealing to some.  But my guess is many will end up else where. 

 

15 hours ago, DirtyHarry55 said:

These are really petty excuses to arrest people is this Thailand Thai people want?
Didn't the government also claim a cocktail cured COVID19?
Will the government also be arrested for releasing any fake news?
Didn't think so!

Who was it that stated the hot weather would blow it away? A government minister as I recall, 

Removed troll posts and the replies to them.

13 hours ago, Misterwhisper said:

Posting something contrary to the above and I might well end up floating in the Mekong as a corpse.

Methinks you have underestimated the local uniformed concrete specialists bespoke handiwork.

The Hub of dumbness,  forging ahead. 

22 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Fines and jail time are still in place for breaching rules about the emergency decree.

So when are we going to see Anutin publicly hung-out to dry over his recent lunch date with friends, ignoring social distancing?

16 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

So when are we going to see Anutin publicly hung-out to dry over his recent lunch date with friends, ignoring social distancing?

We're not.

Its all Spun News these days. Read some old papers from yesteryear. For EG. Ned Kelly the Murderer and Thief was Shot by Police today. FACT.  Tabloids today could spin that into War and Peace and some T.V Poster could keep the injustice bleat running for weeks.????

5 minutes ago, pineapple01 said:

Its all Spun News these days. Read some old papers from yesteryear. For EG. Ned Kelly the Murderer and Thief was Shot by Police today. FACT.  Tabloids today could spin that into War and Peace and some T.V Poster could keep the injustice bleat running for weeks.????

Such is Life!

On 6/6/2020 at 7:00 PM, pineapple01 said:

Durian definitely aids Social Distancing.

You know what they say... Once you get past the smell you got it licked! ????????

On 6/6/2020 at 10:53 AM, ChipButty said:

No prostitutes in Pattaya

Recently Apirat had this to say in relation to that military bookkeeper that tried to blow the whistle:

 

 

"There is no need to sort out or reform the military. This is because we soldiers already have discipline and rules. Everyone who becomes a soldier understands this. Justice and punishment must be deciscive. Corruption is merely the perception that society has.  I confirm that this problem [corruption] has been largely solved"

 

As quoted by Thisrupt a few days ago. 

12 hours ago, Olmate said:

Such is Life!

Well done sir