Cambodia
Cambodia has been issued place 147 by RSF, an international non-profit organization, on their scale World Freedom of Press Index, by which they evaluate the censorship and harassment over independent media and journalists in a total of 180 countries.
The results were published this year on May 3, with a fall of five places compared to last year. This drop is closely related to the fact that on February 13, 2023 one of the last independent news agencies, VOD, Voice of Democracy was forced to close. This event took place months before the country’s election in July 23, due to allegations of a story that hurt the reputation of Hun Sen’s government.
“The Cambodian Center for Independent Media (CCIM), the non-governmental organization which operated the news organization, issued a statement saying the outlet had been quoting a government spokesman in its report and that it regretted the confusion caused,” reported BBC. Even so, the news media outlet had their operating license revoked by the government.
The next hit on media freedom took place just days before the elections, with the blockage of the websites of RFA, Radio Free Asia, whose mission is to provide accurate and uncensored news to places with little access to good sources of information. The RFA took it in their own hands to reflect on the situation.
“RFA condemned the order, calling it a ‘clear violation of Cambodian law and an attempt to censor the free flow of information ahead of the July 23 election,’ according to RFA spokesman Rohit Mahajan,” reported RFA.
Alongside with RFA, the access to other independent news outlets such as the online Cambodia daily and Kamnotra has also been banned, according to RSF.
The physical newspaper Cambodia Daily closed in 2017. The following year the newspaper Phnom Penh Post was sold to the owner of Asia PR to which Hun Sen was a client. According to Human Rights Watch, this marked “the end of independent local newspapers in Cambodia.” Both events took place due to heavy taxation imposed by the government, right before the 2018 elections.
According to RSF, that’s the first big wave of repressions, followed by the one this year, both happening before voting.
Now, that the 2023 elections have already taken place, the son of Hun Sen, Hun Manet has taken his place as a prime minister, leaving Cambodians to wonder whether this will result in some change in the media situation, according to New Naratif. New Naratif is a non-profit organization, aiming to democratize Southeast Asia and providing information on relevant issues.
“Political shifts always bring the unknown to people, including media workers. Sothoeuth (Media Director of CCIM) hopes that the changes can somehow improve media freedom in Cambodia,” reported New Naratif.
They also reported an interview with a Cambodian student from Phnom Penh, Ream Sreypichrothana talking about her use of media after the blockage and closure of outlets.
“’After the closure of VOD, I accessed news from RFA, VOA, and the Cambodia Daily, as well as [the updates from] activists and other civil society figures [in their Facebook page and telegram group],’ says Rothana.”
Furthermore, in the same article, New Naratif reports the statement of Teang Pa, former Executive Director of CCIM claiming that VOD would be broadcasting again as of Monday, Oct. 2, 2023, but this information could not be verified.
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Iva Todorova is a student in American University in Bulgaria, double-majoring in Journalism and Psychology. She is very passionate about liberalism, especially when it comes to media independence and she is now invested in the situation in Cambodia, hoping it will get better.
