Cambodia leaders rev up Facebook rivalry as popularity soars

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia's long-ruling Prime Minister Hun Sen and exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy have gotten an early start on campaigning for elections in 2018, vying for "likes" in Facebook as the political role of social media grows among the country's youthful electorate.

With a general election due in 2018 and local polls next year, Hun Sen increasingly is using Facebook as a way to answer public complaints, monitor dissent and polish his public image.

Cambodia has not invested in the kinds of sophisticated surveillance technology used to police the Internet in communist-ruled China, and is unlikely to do so, says Tharum Bun, a blogger and communications specialist based in Phnom Penh.

[...] while the government still engages in violent repression at times, Hun Sen is a master of political strategy and mindful of the changing mindsets of Cambodians, apparently viewing Facebook as a way to exert control in a subtler, nonviolent way.

Hun Sen denied that a Facebook page set up after his party lost more than 20 parliamentary seats to Sam Rainsy's Cambodia National Rescue Party in a 2013 election was his, until September, when after his page logged more than 1.3 million "likes" he started posting frequent updates.

"All Cambodian compatriots, for the sake of our country's progress, especially to promote people's livelihoods, please join with Hun Sen to prevent and eradicate corruption by sending messages or documents to this 'inbox'," he said in a post Monday.