The Cambodia Daily Khmer
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All the News Without Fear or Favor The Cambodia daily Volume 64 issue 5 Thursday, March 24, 2016 2,000 riel/50 cents PM’s Facebook ‘Likes’ Real, Gov’t Declares By Khy sovuthy the cambodia daily Claims that Prime Minister Hun Sen’s recent spike in Facebook pop ularity is the result of purchas- ing “likes” from abroad are “com- pletely twisted,” the government’s National Counter-Terrorism Com- mittee concluded in a five-page re- port released yesterday. Since late January, the number of accounts that have liked the prime minister’s Facebook page has soared, with hundreds of thou- sands of those users based outside Cambodia, according to statistics collected from the web analytics site Socialbakers. Since passing the 2-million-like mark in mid-January, Mr. Hun Sen’s Reuters page has rapidly amassed likes from Police control entrances to the Brussels central train station yesterday following Tuesday's bomb attacks around the world, with his current in Brussels, which killed at least 31 and injured more than 200. tally at more than 3.37 million—well above opposition leader Sam Rain - sy’s total, which currently stands at Police ID Suspected Bombers in Brussels Blasts about 2.3 million. ReUteRS The death toll in the attacks on sels of a prime suspect in Novem- The most significant source of Belgian police identified two su - the Belgian capital, home to the ber’s Paris attacks. If confirmed, spected Islamic State group sui- Continued on page 2 E.U. institutions and NATO, rose the identifications would link the cide bombers captured on security to at least 31 with more than 200 Brussels blasts directly to the jailed cameras before they struck Brus- wounded, Health Minister Maggie Paris suspect, Salah Abdeslam. sels Airport on Tuesday in the first De Block said on VRT television. The attacks sent shockwaves of two attacks that also hit the city’s The Syrian-based Islamist mili- across Europe and around the metro, public broadcaster RTBF tant group claimed responsibility world, with authorities racing to said yesterday. four days after the arrest in Brus- Continued on page 22 Officials Use Gov’t Letterhead for Private Affairs By Kuch NareN clear up dangling electrical wires in ed to the page of the Cambodian aNd Buth Kimsay front of a restaurant he owns. branch of the Affiliated Network the cambodia daily A December 17 letter from Mr. for Social Accountability (ANSA), Ruling party lawmaker Chheang Vun to Posts and Telecommunica- an advocacy group focusing on Author Defends Omitting Vun yesterday denied any wrong- tions Minister Prak Sokhon, print - good governance. Identities of Current Officials doing after using his government ed on official National Assembly “As I have informed Your Ex- Page 5 position to compel the Ministry of letterhead, made the rounds on cellency Minister, my son and I cambodiadaily.com Post and Telecommunications to Facebook yesterday and was post - Continued on page 6 មានដំណឹងបែែសមែួលជាភាសាខ្មែរនៅខាងក្នុង The Daily Newspaper of Record Since 1993 2 The Cambodia daily thURSday, maRch 24, 2016 ANd AlSo NEWSMAKERS Kazakh Gov’t Offices Ban Phones nPop star Keshahas appealed a court decision that ties her to a recording ReUteRS WhatsApp mobile application” and contract with companies owned by music producer Dr. Luke, who she ASTANA, Kazakhstan - Kazakh offi- instructs public servants to use only has accused of rape, saying the ruling was akin to slavery. The “Tik Tok” cials and their visitors will have to basic mobile devices with no cam- singer has been seeking to nullify her six-album recording contract with leave their smartphones at the door eras or Internet access, two govern- her producer Dr. Luke, his associated record labels and Sony Music. But of government buildings starting ment sources told reporters. a judge in February declined to release her from the contract, prompting today in line with a new policy aimed The document was published by a #FreeKesha social media campaign and an outpouring of support from at preventing leaks of sensitive doc- a local news website. Leaked doc- big name singers including taylor swift, Kelly clarKsoN, lady gaga uments, a leaked document showed uments regularly appear in Kazakh and miley cyrus. Dr. Luke, whose real name is Lukasz Gottwald, has earlier this month. media. Recent examples include denied allegations of rape and emotional abuse filed in a 2014 lawsuit and The memo cites “increasingly state-owned companies’ budget re- is countersuing. In court documents filed on Saturday, Kesha’s lawyer frequent cases of confidential infor- visions as well as a graphic video re- appealed the February decision, saying the court erred in finding that mation being leaked through the lated to a murder case. Kesha could record without interference from Gottwald. (Reuters) Hun Sen of buying likes from “click Hun Sen and senior members of dence is just irrefutable that a large Likes... farms,” posting photographs and his cabinet, refutes these claims. portion of those ‘likes’ are actually graphics to his own Facebook page “The number of ‘likes’ were clar- fake or were actually purchased coNtiNued from page 1 explaining how such operations ified to be real supporters includ- from click-farms abroad,” he new likes is India, where the num- work. ing Cambodian people and sup - added. ber of users following Mr. Hun Sen “A significant number of those porters from abroad; no money “Thirdly, I challenge Hun Sen to has increased from just over 5,000 ‘likes’ were obtained by hiring poor was spent to buy ‘likes,’” states the file a defamation lawsuit against me in early February to more than and jobless people to create fake report, compiled by the commit- because I publicly maintain that he 387,000 as of yesterday, according Facebook accounts so as to provide tee’s technical information depart- is a Facebook cheater.” to Socialbakers. The premier has artificial ‘likes’ to Hun Sen,” Mr. Rain - ment and based on data from So- Members of the counterterrorism also seen a sharp increase in likes sy wrote in one post. “Most of the cialbakers and Fanpage Karma, a committee could not be reached from Thailand and the Philippines. people hired to do so are living in Facebook analytics site. yesterday. Mr. Rainsy has seized on the sta- India and the Philippines.” “If Samdech Techo Hun Sen A senior member of Mr. Hun tistics in an attempt to discredit the In its report released yesterday, buys likes to boost the number of Sen’s administration, however, pro - prime minister’s apparent online however, the counterterrorism com - supporters, or the number of page ceeded with a lawsuit related to a popularity. He has accused Mr. mittee, which is headed by Mr. likes of Samdech Techo are ghost separate claim made by Mr. Rainsy numbers without account owners that he had helped engineer the as alleged, Samdech Hun Sen’s page fake Facebook likes. would not have a lot of activity such Som Soeun, a minister attached as likes, comments and shares,” the to the prime minister, met for more report says. than an hour yesterday with Meas Dated Tuesday, the report con- Chanpiseth, a deputy prosecutor at cludes by blasting Mr. Rainsy for the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, sharing a Phnom Penh Post article for questioning over a lawsuit he with the head line “Only 20 per cent filed against Mr. Rainsy earlier this of PM’s recent Facebook ‘likes’ month. from Cambodia”— a statistic taken After the questioning, Mr. Soeun from the four weeks between early explained that he was compelled to February and early March. defend himself against accusations “The article is completely twist - that he had encouraged party mem- ed because, based on the data bers to generate fake likes as part of above, the result found that in Cam- the prime minister’s social media bodia there are more than 56.3 per- machine. charles Fox cent [of likes], equal to nearly 1.9 “Mr. Rainsy faked the informa- Divers from the Cambodian Mine Action Center secure a 500-pound million people. It is the opposite of tion. He was deceitful, saying that MK-82 bomb after removing it from the Tonle Sap river in Phnom what Sam Rainsy claimed,” it says, I am a person who advised the sup- Penh yesterday morning. disregarding the time period ana- porters and officials—including Divers Recover Deadly Ordnance From Tonle Sap lyzed in the article. civil servants, police and military— A team of divers from the Cambodian Mine Action Center’s (CMAC) “So Sam Rainsy’s claims are not to create fake Facebook accounts Salvage Dive Unit have recovered four artillery shells and a 500-pound true. It is only a political message to fake support for Samdech Prime aircraft bomb from the bed of the Tonle Sap River on the outskirts of to cheat the people who know Minister,” he said. Phnom Penh, the organization announced yesterday. The unit, which noth ing.” “That affects the honor of the was established by CMAC and the U.S.-funded Golden West Humani- Mr. Rainsy called the entire re- country’s leader, Samdech Prime tarian Foundation, was tipped off to the old ordnance when fishermen in port into question and challenged Minister, and my honor, because the city’s northern Prek Pnov district “caught them in their fishing nets Mr. Hun Sen to personally file a de - he used my message to attack Sam - and reported them directly to CMAC Dive Team during a community famation lawsuit against him. dech,” he said, referring to a mes- outreach event,” Golden West country director Allen Tan said in an email.