Bangkok: The Election Commission of Thailand (ECT) has opened an E-war Room to detect defamatory messages against candidates and political parties. The Election Commission of Thailand (ECT) has opened an E-war Room to strictly monitor and detect defamatory messages against candidates and political parties. Any such messages will be immediately removed, and legal action will be taken against those who post them. The ECT acknowledges that tracking accounts opened overseas and appeals to all parties to cooperate in order to create a fair competitive environment.

According to Thai News Agency, Mr. Saweang Boonmee, Secretary-General of the Election Commission, stated during the opening of the Electronic Campaign Management Center (E-war Room) that the purpose of establishing the center is to ensure fair and balanced competition and to protect candidates from political parties and constituency elections. The center will operate 24 hours a day and will have a program to detect anyone posting fake news or defamatory messages against candidates or political parties, causing damage or using false information. If the Election Commission receives such information, or if candidates or political parties are affected, they can report it to the center. The Election Commission will then work with other agencies to address this.

Regarding the message screening process, the program has a system to detect inaccurate information. It then examines whether those messages constitute defamation under election campaign laws. The Election Commission's goal is to prevent defamation, not libel. If it's considered defamation, it falls under criminal charges, and political parties will have to handle that themselves.

Mr. Saeng further stated that this system, used by the Election Commission since the 2023 parliamentary elections, allows for the deletion of a large number of messages. Initially, if violations are detected, orders will be issued to delete, modify, or change the content. Previously, while we could delete posts, we couldn't track down the individuals because the IDs were set up abroad. Therefore, we need to cooperate with Facebook, Line, TikTok, and other social media platforms, as well as the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, to track these individuals, as it violates criminal law. If the IDs were located in Thailand, they could be tracked, but most are located overseas, making it impossible to trace them. This system aims to create a fair competitive environment, as some platforms established abroad have limitations in protecting their customers.

In cases of defamation, the procedure is that the Election Commission must order the removal of the post and track down the individual who posted it. However, this center will act as a preliminary assessment before submitting the findings to the Election Commission for deletion. Previously, a significant number of posts have already been removed.