Cambodian leader Hun Sen, a huge Facebook fan, says he is jumping ship to Telegram

The 70-year-old year Hun Sen, who has led Cambodia for 38 years, is listed as having 14 million Facebook followers, though critics have suggested a large number are merely “ghost” accounts purchased in bulk from so-called ‘click farms’, an assertion the long-serving prime minister has repeatedly denied. — AFP

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, a devoted and very active user of Facebook – on which he has posted everything from photos of his grandchildren to threats against his political enemies – said June 28 that he will no longer upload to the platform and will instead depend on the Telegram app to get his message across.

Telegram is a popular messaging app that also has a blogging tool called “channels”. In Russia and some of the neighbouring countries, it is actively used both by government officials and opposition activists for communicating with mass audiences. Telegram played an important role in coordinating unprecedented anti-government protests in Belarus in 2020, and currently serves as a major source of news about Russia’s war in Ukraine.