Thailand is to prosecute a dozen people over Facebook posts and online articles about a rape allegation by a British tourist deemed fake by police.
Last month a British newspaper reported a 19-year-old backpacker had been drugged, robbed and raped in June on the popular tourist island of Koh Tao but police had refused to record her complaint.
Thai police said last week their investigation had established that no sexual assault took place.
Arrest warrants had been issued for 12 people for publishing stories on the rape allegation, Deputy Tourist Police Chief Surachet Hakpan said on Wednesday.
They include the administrator of popular investigative Facebook page CSI LA and the editor of a local news website.
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The remaining 10 people were wanted for sharing the Facebook posts, Surachet said.
Thailand's strict computer crime laws mean publishing and sharing false information online can land people five years in prison.
About half the group had already been arrested, all of whom had confessed, Surachet said.
Thai police have also contacted US counterparts to extradite Pramuk Anantasin, the Los Angeles-based Thai-born data scientist who administers the CSI LA Facebook page, which had more than 810,000 followers as of Wednesday.
"This is ridiculous. I have never heard of a case where Facebook page administrators have been charged before," Pramuk, who also has US citizenship, told news agency dpa.
"I am protected by the US constitution. It's just a PR stunt to scare off social media users," said Pramuk.
"This case is not even finished. The truth has not been revealed but they already rushed to close the case and arrest people," he added, suggesting there may have been a cover-up.
Koh Tao, 750 kilometres south of Bangkok, is known for its pristine beaches and is a popular destination for international divers.
But it is has also been plagued by numerous rape and murder cases in recent years, the most notable of which involved a young British couple found dead on one of the island's beaches in 2014.
A Thai court sentenced two Myanmar workers to death for their murders in 2015.
