Doctored screenshot exaggerates Facebook views of Thai ex-PM's speech

Published on September 4, 2024 at 12:09
Updated on September 5, 2024 at 07:19
3 min read
By Chayanit ITTHIPONGMAETEE, AFP Thailand

As Thailand's controversial ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra gave his first official speech since returning from exile, an edited screenshot made the rounds online appearing to show a livestream of his address with 4.3 million views. While Thaksin's speech attracted considerable news coverage, the livestream garnered a fraction of that view count. The Thai news agency that hosted the 'Vision for Thailand 2024' forum where Thaksin spoke said his address was viewed 2.5 million times across all platforms, including TV broadcasts and online.

"Thaksin talks about his vision in livestream with over 4 million viewers!!!" read a Thai-language post on X, formerly Twitter, on August 23, 2024.

"Thai people are starting to see opportunities. Top businesspeople of different countries came to listen to his vision."

The post shares a screenshot of Thaksin speaking on stage, with the video's view count shown as 4,349,319.

A screenshot of the false X post, taken on August 26, 2024

After living in self-imposed exile following a 2006 military coup, Thaksin returned to Thailand in August 2023. He served virtually all of his sentence in a hospital rather than prison on medical grounds and was granted release on parole in February (archived link).

On August 16, Thaksin's daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra, 38, was voted by parliament as the new prime minister and the youngest leader in the kingdom's history.

The edited screenshot was shared in similar posts on X and Facebook.

Edited view count

However, the Facebook livestream shown in the screenshot had actually garnered 193,000 views in total, as of September 3 (archived link).

The 1:38:34 timestamp of the broadcast -- which is seen in the edited screenshot -- shows 2,745 people watching at that particular moment.

Comparison between the edited screenshot and original screenshot

In his first official speech since returning to Thailand, the billionaire and two-time former premier outlined a 14-point plan to improve Thailand's economy that are likely to be implemeted by his daughter's administration.

The Nation, the Thai news agency that hosted the 'Vision for Thailand 2024' event where Thaksin spoke, reported that the total viewership across all platforms -- including TV broadcasts, Facebook, YouTube and their website -- was 2.5 million (archived link).

"We confirm that there are 2.5 million views of Thaksin's speech across all the platforms," a representative for The Nation's marketing communications team told AFP on August 26.

A reverse image search on Google found a Facebook post from August 22 which suggested the screenshot had been edited as a joke.

"My Facebook page always fool people. I gain extra money out of every post," the Facebook account, which regularly shares pro-Thaksin content, commented on the post.

The account pointed out that the last three digits of the fabricated view count "319" correspond to the number of votes Paetongtarn received to become Prime Minister on August 16 (archived link).

Screenshot of the Facebook post

AFP has previously debunked misinformation about Thaksin here, here and here.

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