Cambodia PM backtracks on threat to ban Facebook amid content row

Would Cambodia’s strongman ruler Hun Sen follow through on a threat to block access to Facebook for his country’s millions of users?

That was the question many asked in the nation of 17 million people on Friday when the prime minister began his day threatening to ban the social media platform, but then walked back his warning in a late-night statement.“I only decided to close down my own Facebook,” Hun Sen said in a voice message on the Telegram messaging app on Friday night.

“I have no intention to shut down Facebook in Cambodia,” he said, closing out a day in which many Cambodians discovered that their ruler of almost 40 years had been accused by a Facebook oversight board of inciting violence against political opponents on his profile page.

What has become a political fiasco for Facebook in Cambodia began on Thursday when a board of experts adjudicating content for Meta Platforms Inc, which owns Facebook, called for a six-month suspension of Hun Sen’s Facebook and Instagram accounts over a livestreamed speech in which he allegedly threatened violence against political opponents.The board said Hun Sen had incited violence “at the highest level of severity”, and ordered that a video of the speech streamed in January, be removed immediately by Facebook.

“Given Hun Sen’s reach on social media, allowing this kind of expression on Facebook enables his threats to spread more broadly. It also results in Meta’s platforms contributing to these harms by amplifying the threats and resulting intimidation,” the board said.

“Given the severity of the violation, Hun Sen’s history of committing human rights violations and intimidating political opponents, and his strategic use of social media to amplify such threats, the Board calls on Meta to immediately suspend Hun Sen’s Facebook Page and Instagram account for six months,” it added.Within hours of the publication of the board’s ruling, Hun Sen announced that he had deleted his Facebook account – where he has amassed some 14 million followers – claiming he did so because of impersonators on the social media platform.

Hun Sen, a prolific poster on Facebook who has relied on the platform to spread his political messaging for years, did not mention the Meta board’s ruling that he had incited violence or that he was facing a six-month suspension.A day before the board ruling was made public, Hun Sen said that he was moving over to the Telegram platform, which was “more effective”, and that he would also create a TikTok account to connect with younger people.

The Meta oversight board’s recommendation to suspend the prime minister’s accounts comes less than a month before the country’s next national election and, by Friday morning, Hun Sen warned of blocking Facebook altogether, “for a short period or forever”, according to news reports.

His apparent threat to cut access to Facebook prompted fears among the country’s millions of users, especially those who use the platform for online business.

“I urge the prime minister to reconsider and think about people’s businesses,” a Cambodian online business owner said, recounting how she had felt sick upon hearing the news of the leader’s dispute with Facebook.

“I’ve earned my living there for more than five years,” said the 29-year-old, who asked to remain anonymous as she feared repercussions for criticising the government.His apparent threat to cut access to Facebook prompted fears among the country’s millions of users, especially those who use the platform for online business.

“I urge the prime minister to reconsider and think about people’s businesses,” a Cambodian online business owner said, recounting how she had felt sick upon hearing the news of the leader’s dispute with Facebook.

“I’ve earned my living there for more than five years,” said the 29-year-old, who asked to remain anonymous as she feared repercussions for criticising the government.