ccim
A man checks the news on his smartphone. (Heng Vichet/VOD)

Groups Push for Regional Front to Hold Social Media Accountable

Advocates from across Southeast Asia on Tuesday alleged social media complicity in state-sponsored propaganda, harassment of activists and antidemocratic censorship as they established a regional civil-society coalition to press for accountability.

Authorities grab a camera during a small protest outside the Chinese Embassy in Phnom Penh on October 23, 2020. (Matt Surrusco/VOD)

Rights Monitors, Journalists Threatened Over Taking Photos at Rally

A Phnom Penh deputy governor was among authorities who harassed rights monitors and journalists, threatening to confiscate their cameras and phones, at a small opposition rally outside the Chinese Embassy on Friday, with a media advocate calling the authorities’ actions “unacceptable intimidation.”