Government Officials Increasingly on Facebook
In July, an estimated 2.9 million Cambodians were on Facebook, up from 1.7 million a year earlier.
Socheata Hean, OA Khmer
03 December 2015
PHNOM PENH—
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| Senior Cambodian government officials are using their smart phones while awaiting the return of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen from France at Phnom Penh International Airport, October 28, 2015. Government officials and state institutions have recently taken to Facebook to inform the public as the social media platform is becoming increasingly popular among Cambodian youth. (Hean Socheata/VOA Khmer) |
The social networking website Facebook has grown increasingly popular with government officials, who use it to communicate with their constituents and to push their political positions to a younger audience.
Most ministries have a Facebook page, and Prime Minister Hun Sen has an official page, as well. The Hun Sen page, which has more than 1.4 million likes, contains information on the premier’s daily activities, speeches and reactions to political events.
Ouk Kimseng, an adviser to the Ministry of Information, said there is now a lot of news and information available on Facebook, compared to elsewhere. If pages are official, “people can know that the information is accurate enough,” he said.
Facebook allows a new kind of interaction between people and the government, which is an improvement, he said. “The government would take those suggestions from public for consideration,” he said.
It is free of charge and helps Cambodia catch up to the rest of the world, he added.
It’s also a boon to news organizations and journalists, said Kay Kimsong, editor-in-chief for The Phnom Penh Post Khmer. “We now can quote from those official Facebook pages, while we hardly quote directly from [the people behind them], especially opposition leader Sam Rainsy and Prime Minister Hun Sen,” he said.
According to a report released by the Open Institute in November, Facebook has become the second-most important means for Cambodians to access information. In July, an estimated 2.9 million Cambodians were on Facebook, up from 1.7 million a year earlier.
Media experts say that while Facebook provides a new platform for information sharing, the information is still limited. And it is not necessarily transparent.
“Access to information requires that the government be more open,” said So Sorthy, advocacy officer at the Cambodian Center for Independent Media. “Information is knowledge that people need every day, just like they need meals every day.”
Meanwhile, Facebook has also become a dangerous place for government critics. Rescue Party senator Hong Sok Hour is currently in jail, facing charges related to his posting a border document on Facebook that the government says is fake.
And Rescue Party President Sam Rainsy this week received a court summons in a criminal defamation suit brought by National Assembly President Heng Samrin, for a video Sam Rainsy posted on his Facebook page.
7 comments:
To get these monkey jungle education to read and understand French or English version completely it take years not months or days . This low lives uneducated one and be a great boss of kleptocracy regime of to day , some even don't know how to read French of English . They got a big job because of their loyalty to the communist regime , is not because they have good education or any expertise to serve in this country . So sad that dominant ministers of one country and whole a big job in this nation have a very low education sometime lower that 7 or 8 grade . It is a real shameful to international eyes of the world, if they know that one minister of defend , many 3 or 4 stars general or a president of a congress or PM of Khmer country have a lot less education that an interpreter or entourages , who help to deal with the foreign dignity . But this is the true nature of Khmer to day officials .
While I don't support CPP government. I would recommended you not to call anyone let along Royal Cambodia Government officials low life. We don't support CPP but we must be civilized and professional. Plus as Khmer cultures we must respect our elders even they are CPP members. To label most of our government officials a 7 to 8 grader would disgrace our country Cambodia. I don't agree with you on this. I think CPP had many well educated peoples in all branches of government and they even had foreign advisers who had worked with past U.S presidents . That was why they still in charge despite they lost 2013 election with the helps of these advisers. So, as CNRP members we must respect our opponents strengths & weakness other wise you will never be able to play game with them.
call the cpp assholes low life is part the freedom of speech and you have problems with it after what they have done to Khmer. Why do you ever want to hide from the fact that they are low life?.They do what they do best"the low life".You said there are foreign advisers , even former US president advisers come to work for Cpp, they must be a bunch of low life assholes who can't see nothing wrong with this thuggish regime.I hope you are not a low life life like them if you are ,you wouldn't see anything wrong.Tomorrow the sun still rises from the East as a brand new day,but Khmers are still enduring the sufferings
Nothing wrong to participate with the political discussion , But to said that this government do nothing wrong is a little bit out of bound now. I said here is not try to propagate for any political parties or groups, i just want to express my opinion that you are a majority employee of the state but let one former low ranking communist, did a lot of harmful unimaginable to our poor Khmer outside your enclave of rich and powerful. I see it wrong, like give land to foreigner of ten thousands Hectar and chase Khmer poor aborigine ,who lives in that land out with no any solution or enough compensation . I said here with fact not a hearsay . In Mondul Kiri example, these so poor Khmer Loeu need development to sustain their families lives, but instead this government blindly destroyed their way of life by give away the resource forest to big cronies companies and cut off their dependent income away from them . This is just a small thing that i seen when i been there many time, to visited my native land . I said low life leadership , because some just used to much power or gave to much power to their cronies without gut to control it . Could you dare to tell me what you can say or reacted ,When a supper rich and powerful individual with many stars in his shoulder wrongfully drove his SUV with excessive speed , hid a motor bike, and broke his tight and they came down with intolerable angry, stomp and kick him more in front of police officer ? That is not a low life gangster or what else you can say . I know that all not bad ,but stay embed or stay mum with this maniac regime or pretend that everything is okay and acceptable ,why don't you stand your ground and protect your poor blood lives who unable to fight back for their right as a citizen of one country they live on ?
សុទ្ធតែពួកឆ្កែចង្រៃខាងលើនេះដែលបានបំផ្លាញហើយមិនព្រមភ្ញាក់ខ្លួន នេះបានមនុស្សចង្រៃសំរាប់ជាតិដ៏អាក្រក់បំផុត។
That is a bunch of monkeys look at iphones.
To 3 December 2015 at 12:57 poster. First, I am not a low life Khmer. I got educated and worked 12 as aircraft technician for a major American airline. I earned my living to support my family the hard way. Secondly, I dislike these CPP/Youn puppets as much as any true Cambodian patriotic. These ex. Khmer Rough had their hands also with Pol Pot killed about 60% of my family during Pol Pot genocide years. I had lived through during Pol Pot power until Vietnamese invasion. I believed they are always worked for the best interests of Hanoi. I also agreed with you that they had very low education when they took over government from Khmer Rough but now they had all those corrupted money to hire some of the best intellectual,low life Khmers & foreigners to educate them quickly. DON'T UNDERESTIMATE CPP AS OUR OPPONENTS ABILITIES. Third, I am as hurtful and shamed of what had happening to our peoples & country even though I called America my home. I still missed & loved Cambodia. Cambodia will still be my country until the day I left this world.
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