Hun Sen returns to Facebook after weeks of breakup

Phnom Penh, Cambodia, July 22: Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's Facebook account was reactivated Thursday, three weeks after he announced he was forsaking the social media giant in favor of posting on Telegram, a popular messaging app that also serves as a blogging tool.

Hun Sen’s return to the Facebook fold came three days before a general election in which his ruling Cambodian People’s Party is virtually guaranteed a landslide victory.

Hun Sen said at the end of June that he would stop posting new material on his Facebook page but leave the account online. He said he was switching to Telegram because he believed the app provided a more effective way to communicate.

But when a Facebook watchdog criticized the language in one of his videos and recommended suspending the prime minister's account for six months, Hun Sen took down the page.

Duong Dara, who manages the 70-year-old leader's social media accounts, posted a message Thursday saying he had asked Hun Sen to be allowed to reactivate his Facebook page in the national interest. He said he, and not the prime minister, would be uploading content.

“I created this page ‘Samdech Hun Sen, Cambodian Prime Minister,’ for him to use for communicating with the Cambodian people, both inside and outside the country, especially to get to hear directly from them about their situation via requests and comments on his page,” Duong Dara wrote. “Because I saw the importance of this social media network, I decided to create this page for him to use for the benefit of the country.  (AP)