cyber-troll armies known as ‘call centre hubs’

December 16, 2022 11:04 AM

Hijacking & Weaponizing the Narrative: Disinformation Amid Rising Repression in East Asia. Case studies focused on the Philippines, Mindanao, Indonesia, West Papua, Hong Kong, and Cambodia, but are indicative of a larger, systemic issue across the region.
posted by spamandkimchi (2 comments total)

An interesting world is were conscious forsakes it's own malleability.

from the section on Cambodia:

"In a graduation ceremony held on 18, February 2020, where he handed out certificates to students of a university in Phnom Penh, Hun Sen declared there was no confirmed case yet of coronavirus in the Southeast Asian country. He further claimed that Cambodia had the capacity to control its spread, and oddly enough, asserted that no Cambodian would be infected with the virus. He made the bold — and false —
assertion less than a month after the first case of the deadly disease surfaced on
January 27th. Why, traffic accidents were scarier, killing an average of five to six
Cambodians every day, he said.
By mid-April, there were already 120 lconfirmed cases of the health scourge in...The Prime Minister’s unwarranted indifference to the newly emergent pandemic was in stark contrast to the concerns voiced online by Cambodians, a fact that did not sit well with the theg government. Between January and March, a total of 17 netizens were arrested on charges including spreading of ‘fake news.’ Among the five who were apprehended and jailed were “members or supporters of the outlawed opposition CNRP [Cambodia National Rescue Party],”

Mosey Google:
This piece — published on August 7 — was BRINK’s best-performing article of 2020.

"as of the end of July, while Cambodia has recorded just 15 cases per million at this point.,"

Cambodia PM cuts G20 trip short after testing positive for COVID

Prime Minister Hun Sen said he is legally disowning an adopted daughter
The other children, "Inside Huns family Business Empire."


"Hun Sen threatens retaliation against people planning to protest his Brussels visit
'We need to take pictures of their faces … and find their family members.'"

"Myanmar conflict may take five more years to resolve: Hun Sen"
Wednesday, 14 Dec 2022.
posted by clavdivs at 3:30 PM on December 16, 2022 [2 favorites]

I'm wondering why the title situates this in "East Asia" when almost all (except one) of the locations of those case studies are in Southeast Asia...

Would love to read this at length and am interested in the topic, but it feels strange and a little jarring that the publication would get this basic detail wrong.
posted by aielen at 8:12 PM on December 17, 2022 [1 favorite]