PHNOM PENH: Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Facebook page has been reactivated less than a month after he quit the platform in protest of the Meta Oversight Board’s recommendation that his page be suspended. The move also comes just days before Sunday’s election.
The Prime Minister’s official page, “Samdech Hun Sen, Cambodian Prime Minister,” was reactivated under the control of his assistant, Duong Dara, which was announced via a Facebook post on the night of July 19. His assistant wrote that the page would stay activated “for the benefit of society.” He also claimed the Prime Minister would not be using the page directly.
"I do not want to lose the important page that I have been using for 13 years," Duong Dara wrote. The page was originally a fan page for Prime Minister Hun Sen, but was eventually taken over by the Prime Minister, while Duong Dara became his assistant.
The Prime Minister deactivated his Facebook page, which has more than 14 million followers, on June 29 after Meta’s Oversight Board had announced its recommendation to suspend the PM’s account for six months, finding he had violated Facebook’s policy by inciting violence against his opponents. In response, the PM deleted his Facebook page and the Ministry of Posts barred the 22 members of the Oversight Board from entering Cambodia, saying their decision was “politically motivated.”
