The Move Forward Party (MFP) yesterday slammed the Anti-Fake News Centre (AFNC) for its poor performance and called for the unit's funding to be cut.
Addressing the House on the second day of the second and third readings of the budget bill for the 2024 fiscal year, MFP list-MP Pakornwut Udompipatskul said the AFNC -- which comes under the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (DES) -- has not only failed in its task to counter fake news but is also used as a government tool to conceal the truth.
The MP proposed cutting the total budget worth 69.57 million baht set aside for the AFNC.
Earlier, the special House committee vetting the budget bill proposed slashing the DES Ministry budget by 72 million baht to 5.347 billion baht.
Focusing on the centre's performance in September last year after the new DES minister assumed office, he said the centre received 5.47 million complaints about fake news, and only 539 messages were flagged for fact-checking. Of the 539 items, only 235 were verified and deemed able to be disseminated.
According to the MP, the AFNC appeared to do nothing more than forward alleged fake news items to relevant agencies for fact-checking. If suspicious content could not be verified or agencies did not want them to be published, the centre did nothing.
He cited as an example an item regarding cabinet approval of a public debt management plan in which a new debt of 194 billion baht would be created.
The AFNC forwarded the item to the Public Relations Department which certified its authenticity. However, the department did not wish to have the news item published because it was negative towards the government, he said.
"What the Anti-Fake News Centre does is not ask agencies to check facts but to ask for permission for content to be published. The centre simply does what it's told.
"Since its establishment, the centre has never maintained impartiality nor independence. It is used by the government to tell the public what the government wants it to know and suppress what the government doesn't want it to know. This kind of project doesn't deserve a single baht of the state budget," he said.
After an extensive debate, the House approved the 72 million baht budget cut for the DES as proposed by the special House committee.
