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Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen deleted his Facebook account on Thursday (Jun. 29), hours after Meta's Oversight Board called for the immediate suspension of his Facebook and Instagram accounts for inciting violence, Nikkei Asia reported.

He has now switched to Telegram as his main platform of communication with the public, Reuters reported.

Switch to Telegram

Late on Thursday, the 70-year-old prime minister, who has been in charge of Cambodia for 38 years, posted a message on his Telegram account stating that the messaging application is now his preferred way of communicating with the public as it is "more effective".

He added that he will only publish information, including live streaming exclusively on his Telegram channel.

Hun Sen had asked his assistant to delete his Facebook account "immediately" and requested the company to remove his name from Facebook. He said he will still be using YouTube and Instagram and will be creating a TikTok account.

Prior to its removal, there were about 14 million users following Hun Sen on Facebook, a figure close to the size of Cambodia's population. At the time of writing, Hun Sen's Telegram channel has 871,900 subscribers.

Inciting violence: Meta Oversight Board

Hun Sen's switch to Telegram came shortly after Meta's Oversight Board called for the immediate suspension of his Facebook and Instagram accounts for inciting violence.

Several users had reported a video Hun Sen posted in January 2023, where he said those who accused his Cambodian People's Party (CPP) of buying votes in a 2022 local election should choose between a "legal system" and a "bat", The Washington Post reported.

He had also threatened to "beat up" oppositions, "send gangsters" to their houses and "arrest a traitor with sufficient evidence at midnight".

The video, which was viewed around 600,000 times, was reported to Facebook's parent company, Meta, for instigating violence. While the company's moderators found that the video violated its community guidelines, they left the video online on the grounds of its "newsworthiness".

Meta's Oversight Board reversed company moderators' initial decision to leave up Hun Sen's video

Meta's Oversight Board, which started its review in March, overturned the decision.

It cited "Hun Sen's history of committing human rights violations and intimidating political opponents, as well as his strategic use of social media to amplify such threats," as quoted by Nikkei. 

The board asked the company to update its policy when determining newsworthy content. The board also recommended that Meta suspend Hun Sen's account for at least six months and remove the controversial video from the platform.

According to Washington Post, this is the first time the Oversight Board has called for the head of a government to be banned from Meta's platform since it was created to adjudicate difficult content decisions.

The suspension of Hun Sen's account sends a clear message that "Meta's platforms should not be used as a weapon," Pamela San Martin, a member of the Oversight Board said in an interview.

The takedown of Hun Sen's Facebook account is "long overdue," Phil Robertson, the Asia deputy director of Human Rights Watch said, as quoted by Washington Post.

Facing election

Hun Sen officially launched his Facebook page in 2015, after his political rival, opposition leader Sam Rainsy did so.

Hun Sen quickly made Facebook his primary mode of public communication, updating followers on his political affairs to showing photos of his grandchildren.

As Cambodia is approaching its general election on Jul. 27 later this year, Hun Sen and his party members have been using Facebook for political messages.

Just last week, Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng announced the amendment of election laws to penalise anyone who boycotts voting in July's general election, Reuters reported. Non-voters will be barred from contesting any future elections.

Threatened to block Facebook access

While the Cambodian government has yet to directly respond to the Oversight Board's decision, Hun Sen has threatened that he could block access to Facebook in Cambodia on Friday (Jun. 30), a day after he removed his official Facebook account, Bangkok Post reported.

Hun Sen warned he could block Facebook "for a short period or forever" in the country to prevent exiled opposition politicians from communicating with the Cambodian public.

"Don't be arrogant, you guys are staying overseas, you are using Facebook for communications, we could block Facebook," he said.

He also encouraged Cambodians to install other social media platforms including Telegram, Line, TikTok, Viber and Meta-owned WhatsApp.

The 70-year-old Prime Minister also accused Facebook of disregarding alleged "insulting" remarks political rivals had made against his wife and eldest son Hun Manet, who is widely seen as the next in line to take over the country's leadership.

Freedom of expression

Freedom of expression is increasingly under threat in Cambodia, U.S Department of State claimed.

In May, the country barred the main opposition party from participating in the upcoming election for failing to submit "proper registration documents", allowing the ruling Cambodian People's Party to run virtually unopposed.

Hun Sen had previously posted on Facebook that he was "willing to eliminate 100 or 200 people" to ensure peace, would shoot Sam Rainsy with a rocket launcher, and threatened civil war, Washington Post observed.

Commenting on the controversial video Hun Sen uploaded in January, Justice Ministry spokesperson Chin Malin told the local newspaper that the Prime Minister's remarks were “only a confirmation of the legal process of Cambodia," as quoted by Washington Post.

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Top image via Akio Kon/Getty Images.