The Cambodian authorities have claimed that Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Facebook page was hacked following a post made on his account that threatened to shut down the social media website in Cambodia.
The claim follows a recent visit to Cambodia by officials from the tech giant, which Cambodia said included discussions about “fake news”.
The post made on Hun Sen’s account said Facebook had “erased and attempted to shut down my account. But I, Hun Sen, want to say that if you dare to shut down my Facebook, I will close down Facebook in Cambodia.”
The prime minister is a regular Facebook user, often making announcements and responding to public opinion on the social media platform.
Several hours after the original post was made, a new post claimed that “hackers tried to steal my Facebook account and erase much data. Now Facebook is investigating these mindless individuals who had bad intentions to poison and destroy information in our society.”
Duong Dara, who oversees the premier’s Facebook account, confirmed security had been breached, adding that officials had been made aware that an attempt to hack the account was being planned.
“However, we need to find the individuals behind this,” he said, adding that the source of the hack was in Cambodia. “The investigation takes time.”
Chhay Kimkheoun, a National police spokesman, said a police investigation was also underway.
“This is modern technology. We can’t just find out with a click. We’re still investigating. That’s all we can say.”
