Facebook’s reaction to the military coup in Myanmar gives the social media platform the chance to reconsider its policies in the southeast Asia region, notably in Cambodia.
The social media platform responded to the Myanmar coup by saying that it is treating the situation as an “emergency.” Facebook is “reducing the distribution of content that likely violates our hate speech and incitement policies, as well as content that praises or supports post-election violence including a coup.”
The coup in Myanmar has attracted greater media attention than the ongoing crackdown in Cambodia, where life under a brutal dictatorship is a daily reality. Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered the supreme court dissolution of the peaceful opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), which was carried out in November 2017. Supporters of the CNRP and other critics of his regime have been relentlessly beaten up and arrested ever since as Hun Sen tries to eradicate the party at grassroots level.
