Cyber crime decree to be proposed to cabinet next week

The new emergency decree for tackling cyber crime will be proposed to the cabinet on Monday (January 13), the Digital Economy and Society (DES) Ministry announced on Thursday.

DES Minister Prasert Jantararuangtong said the emergency decree on cyber crime prevention and suppression BE 2566 (2023) will hold financial institutions and mobile operators responsible for losses incurred by victims

Once approved, the emergency decree will be announced in the Royal Gazette and come into effect within three days, he explained.

The ministry is planning additional measures, including supervision on selling SIM cards to juristic persons to tackle criminal activities, and will discuss this issue with the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission, Prasert said.

The ministry has also planned to collaborate with the Anti-Money Laundering Office and relevant agencies on disrupting money laundering operations, as well as boosting efficiency in screening mule accounts and transferring cash into cryptocurrencies.

On January 1, the ministry launched a measure which stipulated that messengers who send SMS messages containing URLs must register and collaborate with mobile operators before sending, he said.

Prasert added that the DES is accelerating efforts to deal with cyber crimes as  an urgent government policy, especially blocking all illegal social media pages and websites to disrupt criminal activities.

From October to December 2024, 52,691 illegal social media pages and websites were blocked, higher than 31,154 in the same period from October to December 2023, he said.

A source from the DES Ministry added that the new emergency decree will also hold online platform operators, such as Facebook and TikTok, responsible should scams occur, thus forcing them to screen messages and advertisements to prevent people from becoming victims.

Failure to comply or neglect to do so is considered a violation of the law.