Premier Denies Buying Facebook ‘Likes’

Prime Minister Hun Sen checking a computer before the opening ceremony of the launch of Heng Samrin University in Tbong Khmum province last month. Facebook

Premier Denies Buying Facebook ‘Likes’

Khmer Times / May Titthara Thursday, 17 March 2016

In his first comments on the issue, Prime Minister Hun Sen denied allegations that he has been buying “likes” from so-called “click farms” in India for his Facebook page, while at the same time mocking Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) leader Sam Rainsy for having less “likes” than he does.

Mr. Hun Sen made the remarks at a graduation ceremony for Norton University students on Koh Pich, saying he did not know who and from where his Facebook “likes” came from.

“It’s unbelievable that for my Facebook I had to go to buy ‘likes’ from India, because when I started to run my Facebook page, the speed went up really fast. When it was [going up] so fast, I said please Mr. Facebook [Mr. Rainsy] elder, don’t accuse me of intimidation to obtain ‘likes’.”

Despite denying the claims, the Prime Minister said that buying “likes” from India would be considered a sign of strength, as it would raise his international presence.

The premier said he uses Facebook not to gain popularity, but to solve citizen’s problems as part of his “E-Government” strategy, and that the opposition was deliberately trying to sabotage its legitimacy.

“If you want to be a fool, be it alone, I can’t understand,” he said. “Such people are troublemakers for me to respond, but I always say that if foreigners like my Facebook page, I would be happy.”

Mr. Hun Sen’s remarks follow an article in a local media outlet last week stating that more than half of the Prime Minister’s “likes” on Facebook came from overseas, questioning their validity. The BBC did its own research and found that only 57 percent of Mr. Hun Sen’s Facebook “likes” came from inside Cambodia, with most coming from India, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Up to 83 percent of the Facebook likes for Mr. Rainsy, although in self-imposed exile, come from inside Cambodia, according to their analysis.

In a post on his Facebook page, Mr. Rainsy claimed that most of Mr. Hun Sen’s “likes” came from poverty stricken people overseas.

“The majority of likes on that page were bought from poor and unemployed people to create fake Facebook accounts in order to be able to ‘like’ Samdech’s Facebook. Most people who got paid for that are living in India and the Philippines,” he posted.

Deputy Prime Minister Som Soeun has filed a complaint against Mr. Rainsy for claiming the premier’s “likes” were bought.

“It is heavily damaging to the honor of the leader of the nation,” he said.

The Prime Minister created his own Facebook page in September 2015 and has amassed more than three millions “likes,” with analysts believing it is an attempt to gain support from young voters.

Mr. Rainsy meanwhile, who the Prime Minister used to mock by labeling him “The King of Facebook,” created his page in 2013 and now has more than two million “likes.”