The Dictator’s Muzzle

Listen to Today's Edition:

Meta’s content moderation board called on the company to suspend Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Facebook and Instagram accounts over a controversial election video, a decision that could impact how political speech is regulated online, the Guardian reported.

On Thursday, the Oversight Board – created by the social media giant to decide on difficult content decisions – overturned a previous decision by Meta to leave up a Facebook video in which the prime minister threatened his political opponents.

The video centered on a January speech by Hun Sen responding to allegations that his ruling Cambodia People’s Party (CPP) had stolen votes during last year’s local elections.

Hun Sen – who has ruled Cambodia for more than four decades – exclaimed that the opponents who made the allegations should choose between the “legal system” and “a bat” but if they did not choose the legal system he would “gather CPP people to protest and beat you up.”

He later said in the video that “we don’t incite people (or) encourage people to use force.”

Meta reviewed the video twice, initially ruling that it did not violate its content policies. A second review found that it violated its policies, but the video could stay up because of Meta’s “newsworthiness allowance” – in which rule-breaking content is allowed because the public interest value outweighs the risk of it causing harm.

But the Oversight Board ruled that the decision was wrong, adding that the tech firm “rewarded” Hun Sen’s behavior. Because the board’s decision is binding, Meta will have to remove the video.

Following the decision, Hun Sen said he would stop using Facebook and move to the Telegram messaging app, although he would still use Instagram.

Meanwhile, analysts told the Washington Post that the ruling marks the first time the Oversight Board had asked a head of government to be banned from Meta’s platform. They noted that the decision could set a precedent for how the platform will regulate the behavior of other authoritarian leaders, who use social media to fuel disinformation and incite violence.