The country’s security services control an X account that has posted photos of more than 100 protesters, researchers at the watchdog group Citizen Lab said in a report published on April 16. — Unsplash
Thai security services are doxxing pro-democracy activists on Facebook and X, urging their followers to harass them in a campaign of intimidation, cybersecurity researchers said.
The country’s security services control an X account that has posted photos of more than 100 protesters, researchers at the watchdog group Citizen Lab said in a report published on April 16. The account, purported to be run by a middle-aged businesswoman known as Juk Khlong Sam, is still active and has gained more than 110,000 followers, often urging action against those pictured. Several active Facebook accounts with a combined 130,000 followers used the same playbook, researchers said.
It’s not clear how Thai security services identified the activists but an author of the Citizen Lab report said they likely reviewed videos and photos of the protests. Pro-democracy activists were previously targeted by NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware, Citizen Lab said in 2022.
"We think it’s likely that the security services first filmed or acquired footage of the demonstrations. Then they used a combination of private information – such as government-issued IDs or other sources privy to government like informants – to identify the protesters,” Alberto Fittarelli, a senior researcher at Citizen Lab, told Bloomberg News.
A spokeswoman for Thailand’s defense ministry acknowledged receipt of questions about the report’s findings, but didn’t immediately comment.
Last month opposition lawmaker Chayaphon Satondee submitted confidential military and police documents to parliament that he said showed a systematic effort led by the security services to suppress the pro-democracy movement through intimidation. Chayaphon told Bloomberg News that a number of academics, journalists and dissidents told him they had been affected by the campaign.
"We believe that the people behind these plots are the army or government agencies because the information is private data that is only available to government agencies,” he said. "The complaints I have filed to the government and parliament has received muted responses so far. I expect these efforts on cyber doxxing will continue,” he said.
Protests broke out in Thailand at the beginning of 2020 against the government of then-Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha, with groups such as Pheu Thai, the nation’s largest opposition party, calling for a rewriting of the constitution and monarchy reform.
Some of the activists faced physical or judicial harassment after their details were shared online, according to Citizen Lab, which is based at the University of Toronto. One of the victims named in the report, Jatuporn Sae-Ung, was pictured in a 2020 post on X wearing a traditional outfit at a demonstration. She was accused of mocking the monarchy, a crime punishable under the country’s strict lèse-majesté law.
Jatuporn was sentenced to three years in prison for ridiculing Queen Suthida, and released on bail. She told Bloomberg News that she blames the government for orchestrating her harassment by sharing private details on social media. "They publish that information and encourage their followers to come after me and my family,” she said by phone.
More than four years later, Jatuporn said people still turn up at places where she had been known to stay. "I’m willing to fight my case in court. But these kinds of actions are quite intimidating and disturbing.” – Bloomberg
