(Bloomberg) -- Thailand’s army banned military units from making purchases on e-commerce platform Lazada following a public uproar over an advertisement that the government is now probing for alleged royal insults.

Army Chief Narongpan Jitkaewthae also ordered troops not to allow the entry of Lazada delivery vehicles inside army premises with immediate effect. While troops are still allowed to purchase goods on Lazada’s platform, they will have to take delivery outside army facilities, he told reporters on Monday. 

Thailand’s Digital Economy and Society Ministry has ordered officials to gather evidence to determine if the Lazada commercial by a social media influencer on the TikTok platform amounted to insulting the monarchy, a charge that carry steep jail terms under the nation’s lese majeste law.  

Lazada, the Southeast Asian unit of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., has apologized and pulled the commercial after some royalist groups also called for a social media campaign to push users to uninstall the platform’s app, The Nation reported Monday.

A representative for Lazada declined to comment on the latest development.

A debate over Thai monarchy’s role in society was triggered by unprecedented calls by youth-led protesters for changes to strict laws that bar insults to the king and other top royals. Fighting between royalists and pro-democracy politicians has fomented instability for the past two decades, which has seen two coups, extended periods of military rule and bouts of violent street protests. 

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