Cambodia’s Hun Sen poised to extend 38-year rule, without his favoured platform Facebook
- Hun Sen, who has led Cambodia since 1985, is set for another electoral landslide after banning the opposition and dismantling much of the free media
- But he’ll be ‘sorely missing’ his 14 million followers on Facebook, a platform he often used to spread vitriol, after quitting over a row with Meta
That leaves little meaningful opposition on the ballot paper, all but guaranteeing that Hun Sen’s 38-year rule will be extended.
Despite already expunging the threats to his tenure, the 70-year-old remains in battle mode: warning rivals in politics, civil society and media of his ability to destroy them at will.
Experts say it is typical of an authoritarian leader with nearly four decades ruling the Southeast Asian kingdom under his belt, but who lashes out with increasing unpredictability, often pushing unsubstantiated rumours of outside forces intent on destabilising Cambodia to emboss his own credentials as the country’s touchstone politician.
Hun Sen deleted his Facebook page on June 29 soon after Meta’s oversight board deemed a combative speech – posted on his timeline – to be threatening violence and called for the post to be removed following complaints it violated Facebook community standards.
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The speech had warned he could come after opposition officials with “legal means” or a “stick”.
Explaining his sudden exit, Hun Sen said he was “finished using Facebook”, blaming false accounts and the next day warned he might block the platform “for a short period or forever” – an empty threat in a country where Facebook is the bedrock of internet use.
Hun Sen is so used to total domination … any questioning of his actions sets him off wildly
“Hun Sen is so used to total domination … any questioning of his actions sets him off wildly,” said Joshua Kurlantzick, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank studying Southeast Asia.
Meta’s decision likely bothered the Cambodian leader because “it was one outlet that Hun Sen did not totally control”, he said.
“It also speaks to the increasing authoritarianism of his regime in recent years, in which there is now no contestation,” Kurlantzick added.
Both Meta and the Oversight Board said they didn’t have a response to Cambodia’s opposition to their decision to take down Hun Sen’s post.
Turning to Telegram, TikTok
Without Facebook, Hun Sen’s daily deluge of hectoring speeches is not reaching his 14 million former followers on the platform.
Government-backed news outlets, politicians and even tycoons are still posting aligned messages on their Facebook pages, sharing posts about public figures and NGOs, with boxing teams pledging to vote in the election and not support “toxic politicians”.
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Young Cambodians say the Facebook controversy has highlighted the relegation of debate and policy details behind personality politics.
“During this political campaign we only see CPP … but we don’t see anything about their actions, their policy, they just tell [netizens] to go and vote for the party, they don’t say what they’re going to do for the next five years,” said Chhun Theareach, a 21-year-old university student and member of the informal discussion and debate group Politikoffee.
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Despite their prolific use of the platform, Cambodians are also cautious about posting on Facebook, aware of the risks of unwanted attention from their peers, or even the authorities – opposition members and activists have been charged with a range of incitement cases solely for their Facebook posts.
“Some users are not willing to express their opinion about political parties or campaigns,” he said.
But he said he had noticed more young Cambodians being prompted to speak out online about the risks of life without Facebook following Hun Sen’s as yet empty threat to ban Meta’s platforms, with the potential to spur wider debate.
“[Young Cambodians] are informed, but they don’t have the space or environment where they can freely express their opinion,” he said.
Goodbye to vitriol
But unlike previous elections, Hun Sen is increasingly hinting at his retirement and indicating that he wants to hand power to his son Hun Manet without conflict or dissent from any corner of Cambodian society.
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Hun Sen’s supporters say he stabilised a broken, poor country and has steered economic growth with major infrastructure and construction schemes, reshaping a nation ruined by war, genocide and chronic corruption.
Throughout, the authoritarian strongman has been busy insisting to Cambodia’s nearly 17 million people that his leadership was what led to all the country’s gains.
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Even without a tenable opposition party, Hun Sen’s government is working overtime to breed election enthusiasm and stifle dissent.
With the vote looming, Hun Sen will be “sorely missing” his Facebook page, said Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch’s Asia Division.
Applauding the decision by the Oversight Board, Robertson said the platform, which is “arguably the public square of Cambodia social media life”, will be a better place without Hun Sen’s “political vitriol, and intimidation tactics”.
