PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA — “If you face a lion, you will die,” warns Sovanna Ra, a local journalist for an international newswire service in Cambodia.
In the week before the country’s national election — the first since the main opposition party was banned and its leader arrested, and one in which longtime Prime Minister Hun Sen and his Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) are expected to win easily — Sovanna, who asked that his name be changed for protection, told ThinkProgress that the situation for journalists in the country is “declining.”
“Local reporters are pretty scared and don’t want to write critical things at the moment. Media freedom in Cambodia is declining. We used to have the top media environment in ASEAN, now we don’t,” he said.
The government’s ever-tightening grip on the media has become even stronger as voters prepare for Sunday’s elections, with arrests of journalists, political opponents and critics, and the shuttering of various media outlets. Former Radio Free Asia (RFA) journalists Yeang Sothearin and Uon Chhin have been in jail without trial since November for allegations of spying, a similar fate and charge leveled against Australian filmmaker James Ricketson, still awaiting trial since his June 2017 arrest.
Hun Sen has taken to holding public prades of well-armed military units in threatening displays of power, despite none of the 19 other parties on the ballot being considered viable opponents to unseat him.
“In previous elections there was much more excitement about elections. Lots of big competitors took part, and people lined up and smiled — they enjoyed going to vote. But this time, no, people are afraid to vote,” Sovanna explained.
Hun Sen’s curtailing of U.S.-supported Voice of America (VOA) and RFA radio stations has impacted the number of people who receive independent news (rural communities, where literacy can be low and access to electricity is limited, have been particularly hard hit, leaving most of Cambodia’s poor beholden to state-aligned radio and TV).
Furthermore, the neutering of the two major English-language newspapers — the Cambodia Daily, by a sudden unpayable tax bill that saw it close, and the Phnom Penh Post, through a murky sale — means that the political landscape is also vastly different from elections past. Much of the country’s television, radio, and print media is controlled either directly by the CPP, or via allies, and the same is true for the digital environment, with CPP-aligned Freshnews leading the way with spreading government propaganda.
“The Cambodian government has restricted our access to official sources and constrained our ability to freely cover election issues inside the country, especially anything that might challenge the ruling CPP party narrative,” Anna Morris, VOA public relations officer, told ThinkProgress.
With RFA blocked from its main FM radio broadcasting in Cambodia, and with its bureau shuttered, it is also covering the upcoming election differently than previous ones, explained director of public affairs and digital strategy, Rohit Mahajan.
“This time, we don’t have reporters on the ground and the election itself is what many consider a sham, given the current state of affairs in Cambodia with the ruling party,” he said, noting that RFA was still interacting with audiences via social media and call-in shows, and conducting interviews — including with CPP officials — via Skype and Facebook.
“We have moved offshore and used a model of journalism that we have had to employ in closed media environments, like the Tibetan regions in China or Vietnam.”
Reporters on the ground in Cambodia, or those not reporting for CPP-aligned media, have noted challenges in receiving press credentials, and cajoling from government officials to report “positively” on the country.
“The challenge is that there are a lack of sources who feel free to talk about the current affairs — either the local experts or the ordinary people,” explained another local reporter, who asked to remain anonymous.
The media crackdown has allowed government messages to spread much more easily, especially to older and more rural audiences, the traditional support base for the CPP. However, the picture is rather different for younger and more urban audiences.
“I get [news] from online news or live-stream via Facebook. It is getting harder to access independent media,” one university graduate, who wished to remain anonymous, told ThinkProgress. The website to the former Cambodia Daily is blocked by most ISPs in Cambodia, as is that of RFA, and pro-CPP content is heavily boosted on social media.
Cheap mobile data and affordable smartphones mean that social media — more than 6.8 million Cambodians are active Facebook users — is increasingly providing many Cambodians with their entertainment and news.
The popular surge in support for the then main opposition party CNRP in 2013 has been attributed to its effective use of Facebook to reach out to younger Cambodians. Hun Sen has also become very active on the platform, with his support base growing rapidly (albeit, amid accusations of ‘like’ buying). The recent spread of Twitter bots in Cambodia has seen pro-CPP and pro-Hun Sen messaging flooding the channels of journalists, academics, and influencers.
“I think they are worried about their fairy tale coming to an end — the truth is that many people do not like the CPP and there’s nothing they can do about it. The legacy is that they will always be seen as having cheated in 2018. When they couldn’t win, they decided to dissolve their opponent,” said Sophal Ear, associate professor of diplomacy and world affairs at Occidental College in California.
Former CNRP officials and supporters have loudly called for nationwide election boycotts, recently centered on a ‘clean finger’ campaign. In Cambodia, voters are required to dip their right index finger in indelible ink to prove that they have voted. In past elections, holding up an inked finger was a proud act of participating in the democratic process. This election, holding up a clean finger shows you have chosen not to vote, although the message remains contentious.
“As a Cambodian, I believe Cambodia is ready for the free and popular democracy but the government does not think it is time yet,” said a recent university graduate via an encrypted messaging service. They asked to remain anonymous.
With the popular CNRP banned and the other parties failing to convince many voters, international criticism of the election has increased. The U.S. House of Representatives this week passed legislation to promote free and fair elections in Cambodia. As the Cambodian government attempts to cajole people into voting, a mixture of political apathy and defiance is spreading, at least among younger urban voters.
“I do not plan to [vote] cause there is no meaning in voting when you don’t have a choice,” the graduate added.
With not voting being a visible act in Cambodia, in light of the finger inking, discussion among those deciding not to vote is centering on how to avoid detection; Band-Aids on fingers, feigning sickness, or even leaving the country all being mooted as possible options.
“This will probably be my first time not voting — for villagers in a rural location with little education, they probably have to vote like the local officials tell them to,” explained local reporter Sovanna.
“But for others, we have to ask ourselves why we vote, and it’s hard to justify doing so in this environment.”