President Joe Biden (L) with Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen as they meet on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Phnom Penh in Cambodia in November 2022. File Photo by Cambodian PM Press Office | License Photo
Aug. 29 (UPI) — The U.S.-based Meta Platforms announced Tuesday the social media giant has chosen not to censor the Instagram and Facebook accounts of Hun Sen, the former leader of Cambodia who has been under fire for a live video he broadcasted of an incendiary speech he delivered in January.
Hun Sen, who led Cambodia for 38 years, passed on rule to his son after what has been considered a sham election in July. In the January speech, the Cambodian leader made comments that have been viewed as threatening violence to citizens of his country.
The situation and the decision by Meta, a U.S. company, could have global ramifications for content moderation.
The video quickly racked up more than half a million page views and thousands of shares before it was flagged to Facebook. Human reviewers at Facebook determined the video did not violate the social media site’s policies.
After further review, Meta determined that the content did violate the company’s Violence and Incitement policy outlined under Facebook’s Community Standards but decided to leave the video up under a newsworthy allowance.
The video was ultimately flagged to Meta’s oversight board, a quasi-independent body that helps the social media sites self-govern content decisions. The oversight board took up consideration of how to handle the Hun Sen video in March.
“Meta referred this case to the board because we found it significant and difficult as it creates tension between our values of safety and voice,” Meta said in a news release Tuesday.
Meta said it would comply with the board’s decision to remove the video but opted not to take action to further limit Hun Sen.
“Our commitment to voice is a critical component of our protocol on restricting accounts of public figures, which we created following the Board’s decision in the Donald Trump case, specifically to address the Board’s concerns regarding the indefinite suspension of public figures,” Meta said.
“This protocol is designed to apply a severe time-bound restriction, or suspension, on the account of a public figure users inciting or celebrating ongoing civil unrest or violence in crisis situations. The protocol is not designed for situations where a history of state violence or human rights restrictions have resulted in ongoing state restrictions on expressions for an indeterminate period of time.”
Meta noted that social media has provided platforms for citizens in countries where freedom of the press has been curtailed by the government.
“These concerns are particularly acute in Cambodia, where prior independent human rights due diligence highlighted the importance of our platforms to the information ecosystem in that country,” Meta said.
“Our products and services have been essential to freedom of information and expression in Cambodia given its restricted media environment. Our platforms serve as an important source of independent news and a tool for activists to improve public officials’ accountability.”
Meta added that, though Hun Sen’s accounts would not be suspended, they will continue to be subject to the social media company’s “penalty system” which “apply to all users all around the world.”
Cambodia’s Ministry of Post and Telecommunications cheered Meta’s decision in a statement posted to Facebook. Hun Sen’s government had previously threatened to shut down Facebook in the country.
A high-ranking CIA official boldly shared multiple pro-Palestinian images on her Facebook page just two weeks after Hamas launched its bloody surprise attack on Israel — while President Biden was touring the Jewish state to pledge the US’s allegiance to the nation.
The CIA’s associate deputy director for analysis changed her cover photo on Oct. 21 to a shot of a man wearing a Palestinian flag around his neck and waving a larger flag, the Financial Times reported.
The image — taken in 2015 during a surge in the long-stemming conflict — has been used in various news stories and pieces criticizing Israel’s role in the violence.
The CIA agent also shared a selfie with a superimposed “Free Palestine” sticker, similar to those being plastered on businesses and public spaces across the nation by protesters calling for a cease-fire.
The Financial Times did not name the official after the intelligence agency expressed concern for her safety.
“The officer is a career analyst with extensive background in all aspects of the Middle East and this post [of the Palestinian flag] was not intended to express a position on the conflict,” a person familiar with the situation told the outlet.
The individual added that the sticker image was initially posted years before the most recent crisis between the two nations and emphasized that the CIA official’s Facebook account was also peppered with posts taking a stand against antisemitism.
The image the top-ranking CIA official shared on Facebook.
The latest post of the man waving the flag, however, was shared as Biden shook hands with Israeli leaders on their own soil in a show of support for the Jewish state in its conflict with the terrorist group.
Biden has staunchly voiced support for the US ally since the Oct. 7 surprise attack that killed more than 1,300 people, making the CIA agent’s posts in dissent an unusual move.
A protester walks near burning tires in the occupied West Bank on Nov. 27, 2023, ahead of an expected release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli hostages. AFP via Getty Images
In her role, the associate deputy director is one of three people, including the deputy CIA director, responsible for approving all analyses disseminated inside the agency.
She had also previously overseen the production of the President’s Daily Brief, the highly classified compilation of intelligence that is presented to the president most days, the Financial Times said.
“CIA officers are committed to analytic objectivity, which is at the core of what we do as an agency. CIA officers may have personal views, but this does not lessen their — or CIA’s — commitment to unbiased analysis,” the CIA said in a statement to the outlet.
The top CIA official has since deleted the pro-Palestinian images from her social media page. Hamas Press Service/UPI/Shutterstock
Neither the Office of the Director of National Intelligence nor the White House responded to The Post’s request for comment.
All of the official’s pro-Palestinian images and other, unrelated posts have since been deleted, the outlet reported.
Palestinian children sit by the fire next to the rubble of a house hit in an Israeli strike. REUTERS
The report comes as CIA Director William Burns arrived in Qatar, where he was due to meet with his Israeli and Egyptian counterparts and the Gulf state’s prime minister to discuss the possibility of extending the pause in fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip for a second time.
Both sides agreed to release a portion of its hostages under the arrangement.
More than 14,000 Palestinians in Gaza, including many women and children, have been killed in the conflict, according to data from the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health.
High Court ruling: Lee Hsien Yang directed to compensate Ministers Shanmugam and Balakrishnan for defamatory remarks on Ridout Road state bungalows. (PHOTO: MCI/YouTube and ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images ) ((PHOTO: MCI/YouTube and ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images ))
The court issued a default judgment favouring the two ministers after Lee – the youngest son of Singapore’s founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew and brother of current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong – failed to address the defamation lawsuits brought against him. Lee had, among other claims, insinuated that the ministers engaged in corrupt practices and received preferential treatment from the Singapore Land Authority for their bungalow rentals.
The exact amount of damages will be evaluated in a subsequent hearing.
Restricted from spreading defamatory claims against ministers
Not only did Justice Goh Yi Han grant the default judgment on 2 November, but he also imposed an injunction to prohibit Lee from further circulating false and defamatory allegations.
In a released written judgment on Monday (27 November), the judge highlighted “strong reasons” to believe that Lee might persist in making defamatory statements again, noting his refusal to remove the contentious Facebook post on 23 July, despite receiving a letter of demand from the ministers on 27 July.
Among other things, Lee stated in the post that “two ministers have leased state-owned mansions from the agency that one of them controls, felling trees and getting state-sponsored renovations.”
A report released by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau in June concluded that no wrongdoing or preferential treatment had occurred concerning the two ministers. However, Lee continued referencing this post and the ongoing lawsuits, drawing attention to his remarks under legal scrutiny.
Justice Goh emphasised that the ministers met the prerequisites for a default judgment against Lee. The suits, separately filed by Shanmugam, the Law and Home Affairs Minister, and Dr Balakrishnan, the Foreign Affairs Minister, were initiated in early August.
Lee Hsien Yang alleges in his post that two ministers leased state-owned mansions, 26 and 31 Ridout Road from an agency, one of which they control, involving tree felling and receiving state-sponsored renovations.(SCREENSHOTS: Google Maps)
His absence from Singapore prompted the court to permit Shanmugam and Dr Balakrishnan to serve him legal documents via Facebook Messenger in mid-September. Despite no requirement for proof that Lee saw these documents, his subsequent social media post on 16 September confirmed his awareness of the served legal papers.
Although Lee had the opportunity to respond within 21 days, he chose not to do so. Additionally, the judge noted the novelty of the ministers’ request for an injunction during this legal process, highlighting updated court rules allowing such measures since April 2022.
Justice Goh clarified that despite the claimants’ application for an injunction, the court needed independent validation for its appropriateness, considering its potentially severe impact on the defendant. He reiterated being satisfied with the circumstances and granted the injunction, given the continued accessibility of the contentious Facebook post.
Lee acknowledges court order and removes allegations from Facebook
Following the court’s decision, Lee acknowledged the court order on 10 November and removed the statements in question from his Facebook page.
In the judgment, Justice Goh noted that there were substantial grounds to anticipate Lee’s repetition of the “defamatory allegations by continuing to draw attention to them and/or publish further defamatory allegations against the claimants.”
The judge mentioned that if Lee had contested the ministers’ claims, there could have been grounds for a legally enforceable case under defamation law.
According to Justice Goh, a reasonable reader would interpret Lee’s Facebook post as insinuating that the People’s Action Party’s trust had been squandered due to the ministers’ alleged corrupt conduct, from which they gained personally.
While Shanmugam and Dr Balakrishnan were not explicitly named, the post made it evident that it referred to them, and these posts remained accessible to the public, as noted by the judge.
Justice Goh pointed out that by choosing not to respond to the lawsuits, Lee prevented the court from considering any opposing evidence related to the claims.
Helen Fraser’s son Ryan Tarawhiti-Brown with Chopper, the dog at the centre of an attack on Tauranga vet Dr Liza Schneider.
The son of the woman whose Rottweiler dog attacked and seriously injured a Tauranga vet has been ordered to disable two Facebook pages that contained threats towards the vet and her business.
Ryan Tarawhiti-Brown (AKA Ryan Brown) ran and promoted a Facebook page called Team Chopper in support of his mother Helen Fraser’s legal battle to save her dog Chopper.
Chopper was euthanised following a court order handed down on August 21 by Judge David Cameron after he convicted Fraser of being the owner of a dog that attacked and seriously injured Holistic Vets co-owner Dr Liza Schneider.
The attack happened in the carpark of her Fraser St practice on October 14, 2022.
Schneider was left with serious injuries after Chopper bit her arm, including a broken bone in her forearm, and deep tissue damage and nerve damage.
She required surgery and her arm took several months to heal.
Tauranga woman Helen Fraser, pictured here at her July trial, said that the case was “exceptional” and argued in favour of sparing Chopper’s life. Photo / Ethan Griffiths
Following Fraser’s conviction, Schneider sought a takedown order after she told the court she and her practice had been the subject of constant online harassment and threats since October 2021.
Schneider said comments posted on the Team Chopper Facebook page included threats, harassment and derogatory and abusive comments.
In an affidavit, Schneider said her Google account had also been bombarded with fake reviews which she alleged were incited by the Team Chopper page.
Court documents obtained by the Bay of Plenty Times confirm an interim judgment was made by Judge Lance Rowe on August 30 which ordered the page be taken down and any references to Schneider removed. She also asked for a written apology. This order was previously suppressed.
During a second court hearing on October 25, Tarawhiti-Brown’s lawyer Bev Edwards told Judge Cameron it was accepted her client had not complied with this order to take down the page.
Edwards said her client had instead changed the nature of the page to help promote the rights of cats and dogs, and no criticism or abuse of Schneider or Holistic Vets was made by her client in those posts.
Tarawhiti-Brown had filed an affidavit to similar effect, court documents show.
Schneider argued the change in tone had not prevented others from posting derogatory comments about her.
This included posts on September 23, which stated she should be “prosecuted for negligence”, “sucked” at her job and should lose her licence.
Edwards also submitted that Schneider was prepared to use social media to her own advantage when it suited, her and cited an online article published in June.
In Judge Cameron’s written judgement, dated November 13, Tarawhiti-Brown, who lives in Australia, was ordered to immediately disable or take down his two Facebook pages.
The judge ruled the digital communications on the Facebook pages had been “threatening” to Schneider and “amount to harassment of her”, and also caused her “ongoing psychological harm”.
Judge Cameron also ordered Tarawhiti-Brown to refrain from making any digital communications about Schneider or identifying her or her business directly or indirectly, and not to encourage any other person to do so.
The judge said it was accepted by Schneider removal orders against Facebook/Meta were “fraught with difficulties”, including jurisdictional ones, and discontinued the takedown application against those organisations.
The judge did not order Tarawhiti-Brown to apologise to Schneider and lifted the suppression orders by consent of both parties, who had to pay their own legal costs.
Schneider and the NZ Veterinary Association, which has been supporting her, declined to comment on these court orders.
Tarawhiti-Brown was also approached for comment.
Sandra Conchie is a senior journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post who has been a journalist for 24 years. She mainly covers police, court and other justice stories, as well as general news. She has been a Canon Media Awards regional/community reporter of the year.
