Prachatai’s Facebook page has been found on the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (MDES)’s list of sites that spread fake news, which also includes Facebook pages for activists and activist groups, as well as other online news sites.

The Reporters reported on 24 August 2021 that between 16 – 22 August, the MDES reported that they have found 44 URLs which they claimed to be spreading fake news, and that they are in the process of requesting a court order to block at least 145 URLs.

The majority of the 44 offending URLs are on Facebook, and included activists as well as online news sites. Prachatai’s Thai language Facebook page is included in the list, along with Voice TV’s Talking Thailand Facebook page and the Progressive Movement’s Facebook page. Prachatai reporter Sarayut Tungprasert’s Facebook profile is also on the list.

The Facebook pages for academic in exile Pavin Chachavalpongpun, photographer Karnt Thassanaphak, actor and pro-democracy protest supporter Inthira Charoenpura, and activist Parit Chiwarak are all included on the list, as well as the Facebook pages for activist groups Free Youth, United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration (UFTD), Dome Revolution, and Thalufah. The Facebook group Royalist Marketplace is also listed.  

17 Twitter accounts appear, including those of human rights lawyer and activist Anon Nampa, Thalufah and UFTD, as well as @ThePeopleSpaces, an account which often runs discussions relating to politics and the pro-democracy movement on Twitter’s Spaces platform.

Prachatai has yet to receive a court summons related to this order, and does not know which piece of news led to the Facebook page and Sarayut’s Facebook profile being included on the list.