Thailand – The Thailand Consumers Council has announced plans to file a lawsuit against Meta, alleging that Facebook has allowed fraudulent advertisements to repeatedly deceive Thai consumers without adequate measures to block them.
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.
