Politics and the Social Media in Cambodia
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has been in power, in one way or another, since the end of the Khmer Rouge regime in 1979. He has been “democratically elected” for 28 years. When Cambodian friends and colleagues asked what I thought of that in the lead-up to July’s general elections, I tried to reply diplomatically that if he was in power that long he was either very good at it, or very corrupt. I’ll let readers come to their own conclusion there.
This summer I traveled to Cambodia for preliminary dissertation research, and was fortunate enough to be there for two very important events: the June resumption of the appeal of activist Yorm Bopha and the July general election. Bopha, a prominent land rights activist, was convicted of an assault in December – a conviction that many activists and members of the Cambodian public allege is false and a punishment for her activism – and has been declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International. While her case is of interest on its own, what is of real interest to me regarding both her case and the election is the incredible mobilization of civil society and peaceful demonstrators around both issues. Given Cambodia’s history as a repressive regime, including fairly recent murders of activists (including Chea Vichea in 2004 and Chut Witthy in 2012), activism is often considered a dangerous pursuit in Cambodia. However, despite the real and/or perceived dangers, Cambodians are taking to the street in ever-greater numbers. Recent opposition party demonstrations have drawn tens of thousands, something even more surprising when one considers that opposition party leader Sam Rainsy was only allowed to return to the country nine days before the election in which he was not even allowed to vote.
How is this happening? A large part of the answer is Facebook. While Americans are decrying Facebook’s lack of privacy, Cambodian youth are using it to generate and fuel political activity in a country with few or no free Khmer-language news sources – all television stations and many radio station are controlled by the ruling party, and Freedom House ranks Cambodian media as “not free.” However, internet usage has increased by 60% in the past year, and there are currently more SIM cards in Cambodia than people. This, combined with the fact that 70% of the population is under 35 years of age, is creating a potent nexus for youth internet activism. While in Cambodia I met Ou Ritthy, a blogger and activist who founded Politikoffee, a hybrid online and in-person organization dedicated to “raising political, legal, and social awareness for a positive change in Cambodia.” Like many young Cambodians, Ou is foreign-educated, articulate, and underemployed. Through Politikoffee, Cambodia’s emerging educated youth share ideas as well as information on Cambodian and regional politics. When election violence broke out in a Phnom Penh suburb, the official channels were silent, but Cambodians and supporters were sharing photos and updates via Facebook.
Media freedom and activism will continue to be hot-button issues globally, and with the ASEAN integration slated for 2015, Southeast Asia will likely be an area of increasing interest for scholars of conflict analysis and resolution, foreign policy, and related fields. While the Twitter and Facebook Revolutions of Egypt and Iran have been greatly exaggerated and the very real turmoil in those countries remains unresolved, it is also the case that social media will continue to affect ctivism, organizing, and how activists network with others around the world. As Cambodian internet usage will likely continue to grow, the people are learning demonstrate a desire for governmental changes. It will provide an interesting view into the interactions of social medi and a repressive government.