ABSTRACT
In Thailand, state actors, especially the Army, have consistently played a pivotal role in carrying out information operations. However, the development of the internet and social media has made it harder for them to manipulate public opinion. This chapter argues that in order to assess its influence, it is necessary to comprehend the dynamic nature of SDIOs and explains their process of involving in SDIOs in the new digital environment: learning, adapting, and normalising. A Political Economy of the Media framework – the Propaganda Model proposed by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky – is revisited to analyze their attempts through five filters: ownership, advertising, sourcing, flak, and ideology. Although the state actors and their networks’ project of manufacturing consent is currently less effective on the Internet and social media compared to traditional mass media, they have legal and ideological tools that threaten pro-democracy and pro-human rights movements.
