The council said it is set to file the lawsuit on June 8 together with lawyers and representatives of affected groups, citing Facebook’s alleged failure to prevent scam ads targeting Thai users, weak filtering systems, revenue from fraudulent advertising, potential tax avoidance, and lack of compensation or accountability for victims.

According to the council, negotiations with Facebook over the past year to remove deceptive advertisements have not led to meaningful action, resulting in financial and personal harm to consumers. The group said scam ads have exploited legal loopholes and long-standing user trust in the platform.

At a June 4, 2026, press conference titled “Why Sue Facebook? ”, the council said it will pursue legal action against Meta, including its Thailand office and global headquarters, to seek accountability for damages, including a case involving the death of a young person following an online scam.

The council said it received 6,164 complaints from 2024 to March 2026 involving undelivered goods or misrepresented products, of which 3,793 were linked to Facebook. These included cases of non-delivery, seller disappearance after payment, impersonation pages, and fraudulent accounts that were difficult to trace.

Boonyin Siritham, President of the Consumer Council, said, “Thai consumers have been reduced to mere figures in damage reports. One person has had their life savings swindled, another has been tricked into debt, while platforms continue to pocket advertising fees every second.”

He added that repeated attempts to engage Meta’s global and Thailand offices had not resulted in effective measures to stop fraudulent advertisers operating on the platform.

Boonyin said victims came from all professional and educational backgrounds, including academics, doctors, senior officials, businesspeople, and ordinary users, stressing that trust in a widely used global platform, rather than negligence, often led to exposure to scams.

Saree Ongsomwang, Secretary-General of the Consumer Council, said the lawsuit aims to raise consumer protection standards to international levels.

The council listed eight main reasons for taking legal action, including the spread of misleading and illegal ads like investment scams, fake profiles of public figures, counterfeit products, and gambling promotions, which suggest either poor moderation or acceptance of illegal ad revenue.

It also cited Facebook Marketplace and pages as hubs for illegal goods, including unregulated drugs, supplements, counterfeit products, and prohibited items, pointing to gaps in content enforcement.

The council further alleged that algorithm-driven targeting has enabled scams to reach vulnerable users, with some victims repeatedly exposed to fraudulent investment ads that led to financial loss and, in some cases, severe psychological distress.

It also accused the platform of profiting from fraudulent advertising, pointing to insufficient identity verification that allows fake pages and impersonation of legitimate brands, making it difficult to trace perpetrators.

Another key allegation was regulatory arbitrage, with the council claiming Facebook operates as a full e-commerce platform in practice while registering only as a social media service in Thailand, limiting legal accountability and contributing to tax revenue loss through offshore structures.

The council also criticised the lack of escrow or buyer protection systems, arguing that consumers are left exposed to direct payments without safeguards, which enables scammers to disappear after transactions.

It further said enforcement standards differ across regions, claiming stronger compliance in the US, Europe, and Australia compared with Thailand and parts of ASEAN, raising concerns over unequal protection for users.

The council said over 51 million Thais use Facebook for communication, news, and online shopping, with many users assuming advertisements are pre-screened for legitimacy.

Alongside the legal action, the council launched the hashtags #IWasScammedToo, #FacebookAppGoneBad, and #FacebookFriendsStealing, calling on victims to share experiences to highlight the scale of the issue and increase pressure for platform accountability.

A public forum with the Senate’s Subcommittee on Commerce and Digital Economy is scheduled for June 19, 2026, to gather feedback from affected users and discuss policy recommendations.

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Through the Nexxen TV Home Screen, advertisers can access Smart TV home screen placements on VIDAA-powered devices in APAC and select global markets. VIDAA OS, developed by V, powers more than 50 million Smart TVs across more than 180 markets worldwide.

Guy Edri, Chief Executive Officer of V, said, “The TV experience doesn’t start with playback; it starts on the home screen. In today’s world, that is TV. It’s where discovery happens, where decisions are made, and where attention is at its highest. For partners and advertisers, it’s not just an entry point; it’s the most valuable moment to connect with audiences at scale.”

The Nexxen TV Home Screen is now available across the Asia-Pacific. The offering is expected to expand to additional OEM inventory in the coming months. It is powered by Nexxen’s demand-side platform (DSP), with initial availability in Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Josif Zanich, Managing Director, JAPAC at Nexxen, added, “The Smart TV home screen creates a prime opportunity for brands to get in front of leaned-in audiences. By pairing this premium inventory from V, one of the leading and most widely adopted platforms in the Australian market, with Nexxen’s unique data and advanced TV capabilities, advertisers can plan, activate and measure campaigns within a single platform, unlocking smarter audience engagement and ultimately driving full-funnel performance.”

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Superbank is an Indonesian digital bank supported by Grab, Emtek, Singtel, KakaoBank and GXS Bank and has been listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange since December 2025 with a market capitalisation of US$1.6 billion.

Its IPO strengthened its capital base and elevated it to KBMI 2 status, a classification by Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (OJK) for banks with core capital between IDR 6 trillion (US$340 million) and IDR 14 trillion (US$793 million), indicating a stronger capital position and expanded lending capacity.

Tigor M. Siahaan, President Director of Superbank, said, “We welcome this consolidation as a step towards further strengthening collaboration within our ecosystem. With increasingly integrated support from Grab, we are optimistic that we can accelerate product innovation, expand access to digital financial services, and deliver an even more seamless, secure, and relevant banking experience for millions of customers across Indonesia.”

Upon completion of the transfer, Grab’s combined direct and indirect stake in Superbank will rise to more than 50%, giving it control of the Indonesian lender and triggering full consolidation of Superbank’s financial results into Grab’s Financial Services segment.

Singtel will remain a strategic investor in both GXS Bank and Superbank, continuing its support for their digital banking and financial inclusion initiatives in Indonesia.

Grab has held a stake in Superbank since 2022 as part of its broader push into digital financial services in Southeast Asia’s largest economy. Its ecosystem across ride-hailing, food delivery and digital payments through Grab and OVO provides Superbank with distribution reach, while platform data supports credit underwriting.

The transaction also aligns with GXS Bank’s regional expansion strategy, strengthening collaboration between Superbank and its operations in Singapore and Malaysia.

Since launching its app in June 2024, Superbank has grown to more than 6 million customers and processes over 1 million transactions daily, with around 60% of users also holding a Grab and/or OVO account as of April 2026.

The bank reported its first full-year profit in FY2025, alongside 72% year-on-year asset growth to IDR 24 trillion (US$1.4 billion) and 84% growth in net interest income as of April 2026.

The consolidation will take effect in May 2026, after which Superbank’s results will be fully reflected in Grab’s financial statements under its Financial Services segment. Grab is expected to provide updated group guidance in its second-quarter 2026 results in August.

Alex Hungate, President and Chief Operating Officer of Grab, said, “I am proud of the profitable growth that Superbank has achieved over the past two years. The ecosystem strategy gives Superbank two structural advantages: a scalable, lower-cost distribution channel through Grab and OVO’s platforms and enhanced credit underwriting powered by Grab’s transaction data. This consolidation is about deepening that model and extending its impact, reinforcing our long-term commitment to improve financial inclusion in Indonesia.”

Pei-Si Lai, Chief Executive Officer of GXS Bank, added, “Our digital banks share the same fundamental mission of making financial services more accessible to Southeast Asians. Increasing our stake in Superbank is a reflection of the deepening collaboration between GXS Bank Group and Superbank to achieve this goal. With the close collaboration of our three digital banks and the extensive support from our ecosystem of shareholders and partners, we will be able to double down on our efforts and drive product innovation more effectively for our customers.”

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The platform, short for Generative Engine Optimisation Radar, tracks brand visibility across AI tools including ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity, while identifying which publishers and websites shape AI-generated responses and flagging reputational risks such as misinformation, outdated content, and incomplete narratives.

According to figures cited by Grayling from McKinsey & Company, around 50% of Google searches now include AI-generated summaries, with that figure expected to exceed 75% by 2028.

“Brands used to compete to be one of many on the first page of Google. Today, they are competing to be included in the AI-generated summary at the top of the page, or in conversations with AI models that are increasingly sophisticated,” said Danny Tan, Grayling Managing Director.

“As Large Language Models change the way that brands are discovered and perceived, organisations must have visibility into how they show up in this new environment,” he added.

Grayling’s GEO Radar analyses AI-generated responses from models to map brand visibility and reputational drivers. 

By tracking thousands of source citations and user prompts, GEO Radar reveals how often a brand or destination is recommended and what specific keywords or themes trigger those recommendations.

Ultimately, the tool shows businesses how AI models perceive them and identifies which editorial sources—such as major travel publications—are most influential in shaping those AI responses.

The agency  plans to roll out GEO Radar across its Asia-Pacific affiliate network from June, including operations in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Australia.

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As marketing teams across Asia Pacific grapple with the content demands of an always-on digital economy, the promise of generative AI has often collided with fragmented workflows and spiralling credit-based costs.

Unveiled on May 8, Vidu Claw is built on ShengShu’s proprietary Vidu Q3 video model and the open-source OpenClaw framework. It is positioned not merely as a production tool but as a creative partner capable of managing the end-to-end campaign workflow—from strategic planning and scripting to visuals, voiceover, and final video output—removing manual handoffs between specialists that have traditionally constrained large-scale AI video production.

At the core of the launch is a direct challenge to what ShengShu describes as the “aggregator tax”. While many all-in-one AI video platforms route tasks through multiple third-party models that stack up credit charges, Vidu Claw generates every frame natively via Vidu Q3. It also introduces what the company calls the world’s first Video Plan, a subscription model where users pay for completed advertising output rather than tool access or generation credits.

“The result is a complete and high-quality advertisement. Brands know exactly what they are paying for before they pay for it,” the company stated. 

For marketers, this shifts the value proposition from unpredictable usage-based billing to fixed, outcome-driven pricing, enabling greater budget predictability and supporting large-scale A/B testing and creative iteration.

ShengShu projects that Vidu Claw can reduce the cost of producing a finished ad to around 1% of traditional production costs while compressing timelines from days to same-day delivery. A simple brief such as “Create a short-form ad for a running shoe targeting young women on Instagram” is enough for the system to generate a concept, script, storyboard, and final video in a single workflow.

Beyond video generation, Vidu Claw also functions as a broader marketing automation platform. Its marketing skills orchestration layer integrates thousands of capabilities spanning trend analysis, social copywriting, performance analytics, and document generation for reporting. The system is open and extensible, allowing integration with existing environments through OpenClaw, Claude Code, and other compatible agent frameworks.

For brands and agencies across APAC, Vidu Claw signals a shift in how AI is embedded within the marketing stack—positioning itself not as a passive assistant but as an always-on strategic teammate capable of delivering campaigns from brief to completion.

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The launch comes amid growing attention on the environmental impact of AI technologies, particularly the large volumes of water consumed by data centres for cooling systems. According to the initiative, every 10 to 15 prompts processed by major AI platforms consume the equivalent of a 500ml bottle of water.

Bottle It Back tracks prompts entered across AI platforms, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Anthropic’s Claude. The extension allows users to accumulate the estimated water consumption linked to their AI activity and offset it through donations supporting access to clean water in underserved communities.

Under the initiative, each virtual “bottle” can be offset for US$0.05, or approximately PHP. 3.00 based on the exchange rate cited by the organisations as of 7 April 2026. Users can accumulate their total over a month before making a single donation through the extension.

John Deotrakul, COO of Planet Water Foundation, said, “At Planet Water Foundation, we believe that giving back should be as accessible as the technology we use every day. What is beautiful about this initiative is how it connects two completely different worlds. It takes the water used by data centers and turns that impact into tangible, life-saving water for families. It proves that small, mindful everyday actions can create a massive ripple effect for communities around the globe.”

The organisations said the launch aims to encourage more sustainable AI use by transforming the environmental costs associated with digital activity into contributions that support clean water access projects worldwide.

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Eighteen months after launching its free streaming TV service in Southeast Asia, Samsung TV Plus, Samsung Ads has entered its first data partnership in the region to deepen its understanding of Samsung TV households.

The collaboration brings together Samsung’s regional Smart TV scale with Eyeota’s consumer data network, expanding Samsung Ads’ capabilities.

Through the partnership, advertisers can reach household audiences across Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines for Connected TV (CTV) campaigns.

The move aims to improve targeting based on demographics and interests, enhancing the effectiveness of native and video ad formats on the big screen in one of the fastest-growing CTV markets.

Marc Fanelli, General Manager, Dun & Bradstreet Sales & Marketing Services, commented, “Whether the goal is driving broad discovery or accurately converting intent into purchase, understanding CTV audiences and meeting them where they are watching is key to delivering campaign impact.” Our work with Samsung Ads significantly increases accessibility for brands and advertisers, ensuring campaign budgets are spent reaching the audiences that matter most.”

Alex Spurzem, Managing Director of Samsung Ads Southeast Asia and Oceania (SEAO), added, “Our new partnership with Eyeota empowers advertisers to unlock the full potential of Connected TV. The combination of scale and unique audience segmentation gives brands greater confidence that their campaigns are reaching the right consumers to ultimately deliver better outcomes.”

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The online retailers, namely Seager Inc. (which operates Boarding Gate), Origin Sleep, and Light In The Box, were found displaying fake visitor counts, fabricated countdown timers, and false discount claims to create artificial urgency and demand around their products.

CCS said its investigation found that the website features were designed to pressure consumers into making faster purchasing decisions.

At Boarding Gate’s website, the message “XX people are looking at this product right now” gave shoppers the illusion of real-time visitor activity and high demand. However, when CCS examined the website’s source code, it discovered that these numbers were randomly generated. The site also claimed “XX people added this item to the cart” without any evidence to support these assertions.

Origin Sleep’s website used similar tactics, including messages such as “Other people want this. XX people have this in their carts now” despite the absence of real-time data. Its checkout pages also featured countdown timers stating, “Hurry! Your order is reserved for xx:xx minutes,” suggesting limited-time availability. CCS said these messages and timers had no impact on product availability or customers’ ability to complete purchases.

The retailer also promoted what appeared to be time-limited discounts of “Up to 40% off,” but CCS found these offers ran continuously for nearly two years under different labels. A “Flash Sale” in January was followed by a “Valentine’s Day Sale” in February, then a “CNY Sale”, and later a “3.3 Mega Sale”, among others, with no clear end to the promotions.

Light In The Box was flagged after CCS was alerted by a European regulator, underscoring how such practices can span multiple jurisdictions. The retailer displayed “Almost sold out” notices on products to suggest scarcity, despite operating a made-to-order model with little to no inventory.

CCS said these scarcity labels were applied in a random manner for promotional effect. The company also displayed discounted prices against higher “original” prices that were never actually offered, creating misleading impressions of savings.

The regulator also noted that one retailer said its website design was based on a template purchased from an overseas vendor. CCS stressed that businesses remain responsible for compliance with consumer protection rules regardless of whether their websites are built in-house or using third-party templates.

All three companies have provided formal undertakings to CCS, stopped the practices, and committed to avoiding unfair trade conduct going forward. Light In The Box has also removed the relevant claims from its Singapore-facing and European-facing platforms.

Commenting on the findings, CCS Chief Executive Alvin Koh said, “Dark patterns are insidious as they are difficult to detect and erode consumer trust in the digital marketplace. CCS will continue taking firm action to protect consumer trust and honest businesses from those who choose to compete unfairly.”

The enforcement action highlights Singapore’s efforts to curb online practices that create false impressions of popularity, scarcity, and urgency. It also points to how such tactics can spread across markets through standardised website templates and multi-market platforms.

CCS urged consumers who encounter unfair trade practices to report them to the Consumers Association of Singapore at 6277 5100 or through its online complaints portal.

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The China-born dating platform is relaunching under the positioning “Date Better”, marking what the company describes as a broader effort to reposition the platform for a more global and culturally diverse audience. The relaunch includes a refreshed visual identity, updated app experience, and planned investments in AI-powered safety and matchmaking features.

As part of the rebrand, tantan said it will roll out enhanced trust and safety tools, refreshed UI and UX features, and AI-driven capabilities aimed at improving user verification, moderation, and match relevance. The company is also introducing more community-led and culturally localised features, including interest-based discovery and horoscope content inspired by Asian traditions. The full roadmap will be shared in the next phase of global reintroduction.

Furthermore, the company’s new positioning reflects its focus on more intentional and authentic dating experiences, while continuing to position itself within the casual dating category amid wider shifts in the online dating industry toward long-term matchmaking platforms.

tantan also emphasised that it “takes a progressive, respectful approach to sex positivity: and that it recognises that attitudes toward dating, relationships, and intimacy are evolving across Southeast Asia, and the platform should reflect and celebrate the shift.

The company’s decision to base its international headquarters in Singapore comes as it deepens its focus on markets including Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the US. The company said future growth plans will involve localised campaigns, partnerships, and on-ground community activations tailored to individual markets.

According to tantan, the relaunch also aims to reshape perceptions of the platform as it enters a new phase of international growth.

Willynn Ng, Regional Head, International Markets at tantan, said, “Our global reintroduction is about more than a new look. It is about redefining tantan’s narrative as a safe and innovative platform for a new generation. By anchoring our APAC hub in Singapore and prioritizing interest based discovery, we are setting a new standard for authentic, secure and meaningful connections on a global scale.” 

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The expansion includes markets across Europe, Asia, and South America, specifically targeting Austria, Belgium, Colombia, Denmark, Indonesia, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, and Thailand. The move is designed to provide consumers with lower-priced entry points while offering advertisers increased access to the platform’s growing audience.

Speaking at the company’s fourth Upfront presentation, Amy Reinhard, Netflix’s President of Advertising, stated, “If the last couple of years were about proving we’re a durable player, this year is about establishing ourselves as a formidable one.”

The streaming giant reported that its ad-supported tier now reaches more than 250 million monthly active viewers globally. Internal data also suggests high engagement levels, with over 80% of ad-tier members reportedly watching content on a weekly basis.

The company attributed this growth to a strong content slate, noting that in 2025, Netflix held nearly five times more Nielsen Top 10 original titles than its closest competitor.

“We’ve got cutting-edge technology, we’ve got great entertainment across shows, movies, podcasts, and live events, and we’ve got the most engaged and attentive audience. We’ve proven we’re effective, and now we’re expanding ads to more places, and we’re ready to compete with anyone,” added Reinhard.

To support this expansion, Netflix is increasing its reliance on artificial intelligence and machine learning to streamline the advertising process. New AI-driven tools are being introduced to help brands develop media plans and manage ad purchases.

The platform is also diversifying its inventory. Video podcasts and vertical video formats for mobile were introduced earlier this year, with ad placements for these formats expected to be available globally by 2027. Additionally, the company is testing AI-generated “pause ads” and dynamic ad insertion for live events, which are scheduled to roll out in the US and Canada this summer before a wider international release.

The company also highlighted the launch of the “Netflix Ads Suite,” a proprietary technology stack intended to improve campaign measurement and programmatic buying.

Nicolle Pangis, Vice President of Advertising at Netflix, said,  “Netflix is the only place that can leverage the best tech with the best shows and movies in the world. That’s why we built the Netflix Ads Suite — it’s the easiest and fastest way to deliver better capabilities, better measurement, and more creative formats.”

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