Minister of Digital Economy and Society Chaichanok Chidchob has addressed concerns over young people accessing online content that could potentially contribute to copycat behavior following an incident at a school in Nonthaburi.

Chaichanok said police investigations found that the content accessed by the youths was not the Dark Web, as previously reported, but ordinary YouTube content, including documentaries that they had searched for and watched.

He said the content was not violent in the manner that some had assumed and, as a result, could not be blocked or prohibited under existing regulations.

Chaichanok added that the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has been working continuously with major technology platforms and companies, including Apple and Meta, to strengthen child protection measures and address issues such as online fraud, fake news, deepfakes and scams.

Most recently, discussions with Apple resulted in an agreement to strengthen its child protection measures. Under the updated approach, newer phone models will have child-protection features enabled by default, reducing the need for parents to manually activate the settings.

Discussions with other major technology platforms are also continuing.

Regarding the effectiveness of these safeguards, Chaichanok acknowledged that children could potentially gain access to restricted content through their parents' accounts or by bypassing the system's controls. However, he stressed that establishing protective settings as the default is an important first step in creating stronger safeguards for children.

He said the initiative has received strong cooperation from both technology platforms and hardware manufacturers.

Monitoring In-Game Firearms-Related Behavior

Chaichanok also revealed that authorities had identified the creation of a virtual gun shop within a video game used by the youths.

The NBTC has contacted the relevant game industry association to explore possible solutions and develop greater cooperation between the authorities and gaming platforms.

He emphasized that the objective is not to ban or block the game, but to explore mechanisms for monitoring user behavior. If particular users or accounts demonstrate a strong interest in firearms-related content, relevant information could potentially be coordinated with government agencies for further monitoring and assessment.

Chaichanok said the approach is intended to focus on identifying potentially concerning patterns of behavior while avoiding blanket restrictions on digital platforms or games.

The Better News English