Thailand, Facebook Controversy

              By now I'm sure that most everyone is aware of the influence that social media sites, such as Facebook, can have upon the individuals living within a society; that influence can be deemed positive or negative depending on one's perspective.  From the perspective of Thailand, a country in which is ruled by a monarchy, the social media site known as Facebook has done nothing but portray their leaders and government in a detrimental light.  Because of this, leading authority members of Thailand have essentially "warned" Facebook to remove certain content in which they deem "critical of the monarchy".  If Facebook does not comply with these demands, these authority members have threatened legal action towards the company, most likely coming in the form of litigation.  While Facebook is no stranger to these types of issues, the circumstances surrounding Thailand's content removal are slightly more serious in nature.  For example, for the residents of Thailand, there is a prison sentence of up to 15 years if any individual makes, even the slightest critical remark, of the monarchy; that seems absurdly harsh in my opinion.  While Facebook has made no direct comment on the situation at hand, the company has been known to remove content in similar situations; at this point in time it is just a waiting game to see, how truly serious, Thailand's threats are and if they plan to act upon them if their requests are not satisfied.

-Jaedyn Krebs-Carr

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39893073