Nine arrested in Thailand for posting election 'fake news'
Bangkok: Nine people have been arrested in Thailand for spreading "fake news" on Facebook with posts about sacked election officials and bogus ballots in the wake of controversial polls in the kingdom.
Junta-ruled Thailand held its first vote since a 2014 coup on Sunday, with a military-backed party and its main rival linked to a self-exiled billionaire both claiming the right to govern.
Full official results have not yet been released but questions are mounting over election irregularities that may have skewed initial numbers.
A Thai official said Thursday that nine people were arrested for sharing fake news on Facebook claiming two election commissioners had been sacked and that 600,000 illegitimate ballots were mixed into the vote count.
They were charged Wednesday under the draconian Computer Crimes Act "for sharing or onpassing false information", said Siriwat Deephor, a spokesman for the Computer Crime Suppression Division Police.
"They confessed and said they didn't know that it was fake news," he added.
The accused face up to five years in jail and a 3,100 fine.
The Election Commission has said it would stagger announcements of the official results in the coming weeks, claiming "human error" in calculating ballots in some areas.
Preliminary figures show the military-aligned Phalang Pracharat party leading in the popular vote with nearly eight million ballots.
But its main rival Pheu Thai -- the party linked to former premier Thaksin Shinawatra -- has formed a seven-member coalition and claimed a majority of seats in the lower house.
In order to appoint a prime minister, the winning party must clinch more than half of the 750 seats in the combined lower and upper houses.
But all 250 seats in the upper house are military-appointed thanks to a charter passed by the junta, meaning non-aligned parties need an avalanche of votes to control the government.
The Election Commission is expected to release more results on Friday which could clarify the outcome of the vote.
Rights groups say the Computer Crimes law provides broad powers to crack down on online content and to target regime critics.
The head of the millennial-friendly Future Forward Party, poised to become Thailand's third largest faction, was accused of violating the act after a Facebook live broadcast criticised the junta last year.
A decision on whether to indict him and two other party members has been delayed until April.
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Lok Sabha adjourned till 12 noon over Adani, Sambhal issues
New Delhi (PTI): Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned till 12 noon on Thursday amid protests by Opposition members over the Adani issue, violence in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal and other issues.
As soon as the House met for the day, Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who was elected from Kerala's Wayanad in the recent bypoll, and Ravindra Vasantrao Chavan, who was elected from Maharashtra's Nanded, took oath as Lok Sabha MPs.
Immediately after the oath taking of the two new members, many Opposition members, including from the Congress, were on their feet as they sought to raise issues related to the allegations against the Adani Group and other issues.
Some members from the Congress and Samajwadi Party were in the Well while other Opposition members stood in the aisle and shouted slogans.
Speaker Om Birla asked the Opposition members to allow the Question Hour and said they can take up their issues later.
"I have been giving you enough opportunities to raise your issues and will continue to do so in future. But your way of systematic blockade of the proceedings is not acceptable. The issue which you want to raise has nothing to do with the country," he told the protesting members.
Birla said people have chosen the MPs as their representatives to raise the genuine issue of the people but they were resorting to disrupt the proceedings of the House which is not good.
He said there were difference of opinions in the Constituent Assembly too but those were raised in dignified manners.
Amid the din, one question was taken up.
As the protests continued, the Speaker adjourned the House will 12 noon.
The Opposition members wanted to discuss the Adani controversy and the recent violence in Sambhal.
The Adani Group said on Wednesday that Gautam Adani, and his nephew Sagar have not been charged with any violation of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in the indictment that authorities filed in the New York court in an alleged bribery case.
