Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - Social media shows election day muscle

Social media shows election day muscle

Social media shows election day muscle

Illustrating a rapidly changing information network in Cambodia, social media played a major role yesterday, as images and videos that appeared to depict fraudulent election activity went viral on Facebook and Twitter.

Videos of voters washing off the supposedly indelible security ink used to identify those who have cast their ballots and alleged illegal Vietnamese voters being blocked at poll stations were two primary social media stories that surged across the internet.

In video footage uploaded by Facebook user Lin Chin that garnered more than 3,000 shares and a swath of online commentary, papers are ripped from the hands of a voter alleged to be Vietnamese and a crowd chants “get out, get out”.

In a second video posted on Facebook, voters are shown washing off the security ink used to identify those who have cast their ballots. Posted yesterday under the username “I Love Cambodia Hot News”, the video scored 300 shares in less than one hour. More than 450 Facebook users responded to the video, with some declaring the National Election Committee (NEC) a sham, levelling the committee with a public relations nightmare in lieu of the televised

MOST VIEWED

  • Wing Bank opens new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004

    Wing Bank celebrates first anniversary as commercial bank with launch of brand-new branch. One year since officially launching with a commercial banking licence, Wing Bank on March 14 launched a new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004. The launch was presided over by

  • Girl from Stung Meanchey dump now college grad living in Australia

    After finishing her foundational studies at Trinity College and earning a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Melbourne in 2022, Ron Sophy, a girl who once lived at the Stung Meanchey garbage dump and scavenged for things to sell, is now working at a private

  • Ministry using ChatGPT AI to ‘ease workload’; Khmer version planned

    The Digital Government Committee is planning to make a Khmer language version of popular artificial intelligence (AI) technology ChatGPT available to the public in the near future, following extensive testing. On March 9, the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications revealed that it has been using the

  • Rare plant fetches high prices from Thai, Chinese

    Many types of plants found in Cambodia are used as traditional herbs to treat various diseases, such as giloy or guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia) or aromatic/sand ginger (Kaempferia galangal) or rough cocklebur (Xanthium Strumartium). There is also a plant called coral, which is rarely grown

  • Wat Phnom hornbills attract tourists, locals

    Thanks to the arrival of a friendly flock of great hornbills, Hour Rithy, a former aviculturist – or raiser of birds – in Kratie province turned Phnom Penh tuk tuk driver, has seen a partial return to his former profession. He has become something of a guide

  • Cambodia returns 15M Covid jabs to China

    Prime Minister Hun Sen said Cambodia will return 15 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to China for donation to other countries. The vaccines in question were ordered but had not yet arrived in Cambodia. While presiding over the Ministry of Health’s annual meeting held on