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murder, in an environment of impunity. There are only few suspects that have been brought to justice for killing journalists.
However, human right abuses still exist in Cambodia and freedom of expression and press is still under threat. Reporters Without Borders remained quizzical on Cambodia’s press freedom. The freedom of the press and various mechanisms on the protection of ‘freedom of expression’. in Cambodia, are still amongst the lowest compared to other countries. Also, human rights violations still remain a grave concerns among observers. Between 2013 and 2014, Cambodia was rocked by mass demonstrations, riots, and police crackdowns. Workers gathered on the streets demanding higher minimum wages while the opposition party, the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), organized a protests during its boycott of the National Assembly. This was to express its dissatisfaction of the result of the national election, which provided a narrow victory for the ruling party, allowing incumbent Prime Minister Hun Sen to stay in power for another fiveyear term. To ensure stability and social order, the government violently dispersed the protestors, leaving some people injured or dead, and the crackdown lead to a number of arrests from among the protesters. Peaceful demonstration and the right to peaceful assembly were strictly controlled and even prohibited by the authorities.
In 2014, a survey of 180 countries on the index of the annual Reporters Without Borders report, Cambodia fell from 179th to 44th in 2012. This indicated that press and freedom of expression in the country is still need to be largely improved and protected by state institutions. Cambodia still considers freedom of expression and of the press as a threat to public order and social security. The government believes that the media and general citizen’s practice of the ‘freedom of expression’ undermines popularity of the ruling elite and is a threat to the status quo in Cambodian politics. Those who speak against the Kingdom’s elites’ interests will be threatened and prosecuted by the authority through intimidation by using poorly drafted laws. Cambodian authorities still manage to use restrictive laws including the Penal Code to curb expressive rights and other related rights, which is unconstitutional. The sensitive issues such as corruption, nepotism and illegal logging, have all became a taboo topic for Cambodia’s press and public discussions. People have to be careful not to be overtly critical of government activities and dealings or the act will spin trouble with the authorities. Journalists in Cambodia face difficulties with their safety, especially arrest, repression and prosecution as well as
The government also tries to regulate media institutions, controlling this sector to preserve the positions of its politicians in power. Cambodia’s media organizations, including most of the television and radio stations are aligned to the ruling party, the Cambodian People Party (CPP). These media groups have been working to promote the popularity of the government, and there is no criticism allowed to be made against the government or any elite groups in politics. The government, for many decades, enjoyed the huge support from its people because it cunningly controlled most of the media outfits in the country and effectively used these institutions to gain popularity during elections.
Freedom of expression to change status quo in Cambodian politics Alternative media has challenged the hegemony of state-controlled mainstream media. In the 2013 national election, the ruling party CPP lost up to 22 seats in the national assembly due to the rise of social media users within the Kingdom. It was the biggest lost for the ruling party in 15 years. While the government controls mainstream media for its political interests, the opposition party gradually started reaching out to Cambodians, specially young citizens, through utilizing social media platforms, particularly Facebook and Twitter. According to the figures of Open Development Cambodia, there were about 2.7 million internet users in Cambodia in 2013 while Facebook users in Cambodia reached more than 1 million. Facebook has become the most import-