Source: Kiripost
A report has found civil society organisations in Cambodia are being targeted by coordinated online attacks in the form of hate speech and coordinated inauthentic behaviour, prompting digital experts to call for action and report incidents to Meta
A new report has studied a pattern of coordinated online attacks targeting civil society organisations and independent media in Cambodia through a combination of fake Facebook accounts, hate speech and disinformation campaigns.
Published on June 20, by digital expert Ngeth Moses, the report examines online abuse directed at civil society organisations (CSOs) between February and April 2026. It aims to document digital hate speech and inauthentic behaviour, including the creation of fake accounts and false comments designed to mislead the public, damage reputations and silence public voices.
A total of 15 independent organisations were monitored during the three-month period, with 1,556 Facebook posts that generated a total of 24,298 comments analysed.
Among them, 4,903 comments from 54 posts across six organisations were analysed in detail. The organisations included LICADHO, ADHOC, the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights (CCHR), Centre for Alliance of Labour and Human Rights (CENTRAL), Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (COMFREL) and independent news outlet Prochea Kaset.
The organisations were selected because they actively post about sensitive issues, such as labour rights, land conflicts and freedom of expression. The report found they received the "most severe attacks" online.
“The fake accounts found in this study show signs of coordinated behaviour; however, the study cannot confirm who is behind the coordinated behaviour,” the report said.
Kiripost interviewed three of the organisations among the six.
Khun Tharo, Programme Manager at CENTRAL, told Kiripost that cyberattacks and coordinated online harassment have become increasingly common, posing serious threats to freedom of speech and expression.
He said that these activities often contribute to the spread of misinformation and the distortion of facts, undermining public trust in reliable information sources and targeted organisations.
“The widespread use of anonymous or fake accounts further amplifies these problems, as they are frequently used to post harmful comments or target reputable organisations,” he said
The study classified attacks into four levels. High-level attacks included death threats, direct calls for murder and racially motivated hate speech. Moderate-level attacks involved severe offensive language. Low-level attacks included dismissive or hostile comments directed at individuals or organisations. Normal-level comments contained no hate speech, but could still function as disinformation tactics.
Echoing Tharo, Seng Sovathana, Executive Director of CCHR, said the findings highlight how digital manipulation can influence public opinion by spreading false information, particularly among active users on social media.
“CCHR is worried that public manipulation may have affected public perception and social engagement,” he said.
In a more than 10-minute video explaining the report, Moses said the research revealed that the comments do not represent freedom of expression by individuals but are organised online attacks.
“The comments are organised by a group using pre-planned messaging," he said, while encouraging the organisations not to be indifferent. Moses added that CSOs must consider coordinated inauthentic behaviour on Facebook as a “serious and ongoing threat”.
The study flagged coordinated inauthentic behaviour, including pro-government messaging, job hotline flooding, inauthentic research criticism, duplicate comments, cross-posts, templates and teaching a man how to fish.
He recommended that organisations create a joint tracking system to collect, track and store evidence of fraudulent activity posted across all organisations’ Facebook pages. In addition, Moses suggested reporting coordinated inauthentic behaviour directly to Meta.
“Organisations that already have a relationship with Meta through the Digital Rights Network, NGO Partnerships or Platform Trust Programmes should use those networks to report and escalate the issue directly to higher-ups and share the evidence documented in this report as part of that notification,” he added
Echoing Moses’ findings, CENTRAL, CCHR and LICADHO said they have regularly experienced similar incidents, such as attacks on social media platforms and offensive or harassing language, particularly when addressing sensitive topics or engaging in public discussions.
“We will review the report and recommendations found to further improve and secure social media from forms of abuse or harassment,” LICADHO's Operations Director, Am Sam Art, said.
Concerns over coordinated online attacks are not new. In 2024, CamboJA News reported what it described as systematic operations targeting the Facebook pages of three independent foreign-based media outlets. The investigation found coordinated groups, including individuals dressed in military uniforms and numerous online accounts, posting false and defamatory information.
The trend reflects broader concerns across Southeast Asia. A 2023 report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on the proliferated on-line harms and provided state and nonstate actors with tools for targeting critics and competitors, undermining democratic governance.
In 2021, Philippine news outlet Rappler, co-founded by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa, faced a large-scale DDoS attack involving more than 750,000 malicious requests.
Between 2017 and 2020, Meta removed more than 200 coordinated networks that used fake accounts to mislead users and influence public opinion. The crackdown followed findings by US intelligence that Russia used Facebook as part of an online influence campaign to help President Donald Trump win the 2016 election, a claim Russia denied.