In brief
The MDES has issued a new notification under the Computer Crime Act, prescribing the circumstances and categories of illegal content that may constitute an "urgent necessity." Prescribed content includes, among others, gambling, illegal firearms, cannabis and electronic smoking products, prostitution, illegal lending and hate speech.
In such cases, competent officials may directly request the court for content takedown orders without prior approval or assignment from the MDES Minister.
Online platforms and other stakeholders should review their content moderation and incident response frameworks in light of the potentially expedited enforcement process.
In more detail
On 17 July 2026, the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (MDES) published the Notification re: Submission of Request to Court for an Order to Suspend the Dissemination of, or Remove, Computer Data from a Computer System in Cases of Urgent Necessity B.E. 2569 (2026) ("Urgent Takedown Notification") under section 20 of the Computer Crime Act B.E. 2550 (2007), as amended (CCA).
The Notification became effective on the day following its publication.
The urgent takedown notification
The Urgent Takedown Notification defines an "urgent necessity" as a situation where any delay in removing computer data may adversely affect national security, religion, the monarchy, public morals, cultural values, or public order.
In these circumstances, a competent official may seek a court order to remove illegal content without prior approval or assignment from the MDES Minister, provided that the official reports the matter to the Minister without undue delay.
Expanded content scope for urgent takedown requests
The lists of categories of illegal content have been expanded. Examples of illegal content include gambling, electronic smoking products (e.g., vapes, e-hookah), illegal Kratom drinks, cannabis, prostitution, surrogacy, illegal lending, and hate speech.
Next steps
Online platforms, content providers, website service providers, and other relevant stakeholders should review and update their content moderation frameworks and takedown procedures to ensure compliance with the expanded categories of illegal content and the new enforcement requirements.
We expect an increase in court-ordered takedown requests, requiring affected parties to respond promptly and maintain effective compliance processes.
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Chanaporn Anurukwongkul, Phocharaphol Yingamphol and Pirun Suttiprapha, Associates, have contributed to this legal update.