Fake News Is Good News At Election Time

Michael Hedges July 10, 2018 - Follow on Twitter

Autocrats and dictators surprise no one these days by bleating about fake news, very often twisting a complaint about real news that happens to be critical or, at the very least, uncomfortable. These noises seem to rise with the approach of an election. Psychologists have studied this; something to do with brain loops.

Last week the Cambodian government made a big move on fake news. Websites are required to register with the Information Ministry. Posting “fake news,” as defined by the government, can result in fines or jail time. “We want good news for our people,” said Ministry official Phos Sovann, quoted by the Guardian (July 6), who added that the new regulations are effective immediately.

“If we let fake news spread, (social media) will just be full of fake news and then, in the future, I believe no one is going to use Facebook,” said Mr. Phos, who is director of the information and broadcasting department, quoted by the Phnom Penh Post (July 5). The Interior Ministry was looking for a unidentified Facebook user who posted a call for an election boycott, reported VOA Khmer (June 17).

General elections will be held in Cambodia on July 29th. Prime Minister Hun Sen, ruling Cambodia for a generation, dissolved the opposition political party, Cambodia National Rescue Party, last year. "I think Donald Trump is right for creating an award for fake news,” he said to journalists earlier this year, quoted by VOA Khmer (January 22). “Even in the US, there are such kinds of journalists until the president created the fake news awards for such media—fakes, cheats, and liars."

The National Election Committee (NEC) published guidelines for journalists intending to cover the general election. “Publishing news that affects national security and political and social stability” is prohibited, reported the Phnom Penh Post (May 29). Photographing at polling stations must be arranged in advance.

The English-language Phnom Penh Post was acquired in early May by Sivakumar Ganapathy, managing director of Malaysian public relations agency ASIA PR, which once had performed tasks for prime minister Hun. The newspaper dutifully published an overview of the transaction, including the relationship with the prime minister. Editor-in-chief Kay Kimsong was promptly fired. “The owner complained that I allowed the editorial team to publish the story of the buying and selling of the paper that affected to the interests of the paper as well as the image of the owner,” he said to the South China Morning Post (May 8). Other staff walked out.

Last September the well-regarded English language newspaper Cambodia Daily closed. There was a tax dispute, which the newspaper’s owners said was politically motivated. A furtive attempt at an online relaunch from outside Cambodia ended last February after the telecoms regulator ordered internet service providers to block the site, which remains accessible outside Cambodia aggregating news from external sources. A Khmer language YouTube channel was also launched.

"A sector that once offered a semblance of democracy with pockets of free and critical news coverage — amid a sea of ruling party affiliated television and newspapers — has been cut down and left reeling," wrote the Cambodian Center for Independent Media (CCIM) in February. "Reporters say they work with a keen awareness that they could be next targeted for their work.” In its 2018 World Press Freedom Index Reporters sans Frontieres (RSF) ranked Cambodia at 142nd, between Honduras and Venezuela.

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