Meta rejects recommendation to suspend former Cambodia PM from Facebook

Facebook’s dad or mum Meta Platforms has rejected a suggestion from its oversight board that it droop the account of Cambodia’s former Prime Minister Hun Sen over allegations he used it to threaten opponents.

Meta on Monday mentioned it had decided that “suspending accounts outside our regular enforcement framework would not be consistent with our policies, including our protocol on restricting accounts of public figures during civil unrest.”

The board, which is funded by Meta however operates independently, had suggested in June that the corporate droop Hun Sen’s account for six months over a video that it mentioned violated guidelines on violent threats.

Meta, in a written assertion, agreed to take down the video however mentioned it might reply to the board’s suggestion to droop Hun Sen after a evaluation.

Cambodia barred the 22-member oversight board from the nation, declaring the advice was “political” in nature.

The Meta case got here after a number of customers reported a January video the place Hun Sen, 71, mentioned those that accused his Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) of shopping for votes in a 2022 native election ought to file a authorized case, or face a beating from CPP’s supporters.

The self-styled strongman, who led Cambodia for practically 4 a long time till being changed by his son Hun Manet final week, has been accused by human rights teams of utilizing Facebook to intimidate political opponents and discourage criticism of his governments, which his administration denies. Hun Sen stays influential in Cambodia and after stepping apart vowed to remain in politics for not less than one other decade.

His Facebook web page, which he quickly stopped utilizing, had a following of 14 million, a determine near the dimensions of Cambodia’s inhabitants. New content material began to look once more only a few days forward of a lopsided election in July, operated by a member of Hun Sen’s media group.

Meta’s oversight board on Tuesday mentioned it stood by its resolution and referred to as for Meta to “do everything in its power to deter public figures who exploit its platforms to incite violence”.

“Elections are a crucial part of democracy and social media companies must ensure their platforms are not misused in ways which threaten to undermine them,” it mentioned.

Cambodia’s Ministry of Post and Telecommunications on its Facebook web page on Tuesday “congratulated” Facebook for its resolution and reiterated that the Meta oversight board was nonetheless unwelcome.

“They made bad recommendations, which were political in nature, and interfered with Cambodia’s internal affairs,” it mentioned.

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