Dr Kin Phea, director of the International Relations Institute at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, said social media, especially Facebook, was a double-edged sword:
Negatively, false information and invented stories could create disorder. Emotional “public courts” without procedure, investigation or comprehensive evidence could disrupt law enforcement, while malicious users could intimidate, threaten or defraud others for personal gain.
Positively, social media provided information and knowledge sharing, work organisation, trade and wider connections. It could comfort innocent, vulnerable people without a voice and carry their realities directly to senior leaders, bypassing what he called “durian officials’” misleading, falsified or concealing reports.
He said benefits and dangers depended on how social media was used and managed, urging conscience, critical judgment and responsibility for personal and social benefit, rather than polluting society for private interests.
By: ឡាយ កុល
