Fight Over Cambodian Leader’s Facebook ‘Likes’ Reaches a U.S. Court
Mr. Hun Sen nearly lost Cambodia’s last national elections, in 2013, to the party led by Mr. Sam Rainsy, which used Facebook to appeal to young people
and to skirt government restrictions on his access to traditional media.
Mr. Sam Rainsy says Mr. Hun Sen has used Facebook to spread false news stories and death threats directed at political opponents.
Mr. Sam Rainsy’s petition cites leaked emails purporting to show
that at one point, Mr. Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party was paying Facebook $15,000 per day to promote its pages.
Duong Dara, who manages Mr. Hun Sen’s Facebook presence, said Mr. Sam Rainsy’s petition revealed a misunderstanding of the nature of advertising.
Huy Vannak, an under secretary of state at Cambodia’s Interior Ministry who often speaks on behalf of the government on media-related matters, said on Thursday
that Mr. Sam Rainsy’s petition was "stupid and funny." He said Facebook was a level playing field where both the government and the opposition were free to promote their pages and make appeals to voters.
