MGR Online – Samdech Techo Hun Sen, President of the Cambodian Senate, has ordered various ministries to coordinate on measures to prevent the use of insulting, demeaning, and sexually suggestive language on social media, warning that unchecked behaviour threatens social dignity and cultural values.
Hun Sen instructed the Ministry of Women's Affairs, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Information, the Ministry of Interior, and the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications to develop a joint framework to address what he described as increasingly inappropriate online behaviour.
His directive came after concerns arose over unsuitable content on various online platforms, including Facebook and TikTok.
The former Cambodian leader dismissed suggestions that such action could constitute a restriction on freedom of expression.
"Such insults and the use of crude language are not the character of Khmer citizens. It affects the dignity of Cambodian society and our culture," Hun Sen said.
He noted that social media platforms already have community standards in place and questioned why government agencies had not taken more decisive action.
Hun Sen said the Ministry of Women's Affairs should take the lead role in filing complaints, while the courts already have mechanisms in place to handle such cases.
He also criticised online businesses and users who engage in public insults, and called on officials to respond with firmness and decisiveness.
He warned that inappropriate content, if left unchecked, could undermine Cambodia's social fabric and cultural values, and called for coordinated law enforcement to maintain standards of public discourse.
Samdech Techo Hun Sen further added that the various ministries must work together to ensure that aggressive and crude behaviour is addressed in a timely manner, and emphasised that it is the government's responsibility to protect dignity and cultural identity in the digital age.
