Thailand’s Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (DES) has executed a massive digital purge, blocking over 220,000 illegal social media accounts and URLs between October 2025 and January 2026.
The operation, described by officials as a “Quick Win” initiative, primarily targeted online gambling, which accounted for 183,977 of the blocked links.
December Surge Powered by Automation
The DES crackdown in Thailand peaked in December, with 116,397 URLs taken down in a single month. Officials credited the speed of the operation to “WebD,” a platform utilizing AI and robotic process automation (RPA) to detect illegal content and generate paperless court petitions.
“URLs Checker” systems were then used to verify that the blocks remained active across internet service providers. While gambling was the primary target, the sweep also removed thousands of URLs related to e-cigarettes (14,618), alcohol advertising (10,139), and firearms (1,990).
Industrial-Scale Enforcement
The operation signals a shift in Thailand’s strategy from case-by-case enforcement to industrial-scale disruption. By targeting the distribution channels, social media pages, ad sites, and payment links, the government aims to dismantle the infrastructure that funnels users to illegal platforms.
