Facebook blocks group critical of Thai monarchy

A Facebook group with over a million members has been blocked in Thailand by the social media giant over its criticism of the country’s King.

The "Royalist Marketplace" group was created in April by Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a prominent critic of the monarchy, but users found their access was denied on Monday night (August 25) after a legal request from the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society.

Thai laws forbid defaming the king, with penalties of up to 15 years in prison.

Pavin who has exiled himself in Japan told Reuters: "Our group is part of a democratization process, it is a space for freedom of expression"

Facebook has promised to launch a legal challenge to the government’s demand to restrict the group.

This all comes against a backdrop of near daily youth-led protests against the government led by the former military junta chief, and unprecedented calls for reforms of the monarchy.

By Tuesday, Pavin had already set up a new group with the same name and quickly amassed nearly 500,000 new subscribers.