A Book Digitally Entitled Hun Sen as Asia’s Youngest Dictatorship

As the Cambodian government led by Prime Minister Hun Sen has been criticized for its declining democracy and respect for human rights in the country for years, meanwhile a photo of books with a depiction of Cambodian PM, Hun Sen, placed on the book cover along with a title in Khmer or English meaning “Asia’s top young dictator” was posted recently on Facebook. It was being reacted with mixed comments and shared by Facebook users who are speaking Khmer. However, running a Google Reverse Image search proves that the above photo was digitally altered.

This is about our investigation of this photo.

Social Media Claim

On June 18, 2022, one of the Facebook users posted a photo showing four books featuring Hun Sen on its cover. The books were seen with the Khmer title or in English means “Asia’s Youngest Dictatorship”. Posting such photos has been widely shared by Facebook users, while many other Facebook users have also expressed mixed opinions and reactions recently.

Below is the snapshot captured from the user’s post above that shows Hun Sen’s portrait photo and the title of the book.

Facebook Post | Archived Link

Fact Check

Fact Crescendo Cambodia started checking the above photos and claims through Google Reverse Image Search, which led us to find the following facts.

Through Google Reverse Image Search we found that this book does not have such a title. An exact photo of the same format and shape was found on the website of the Ministry of Information published on November 28, 2021. The same website also confirms the name of the author and the original title as “Young Asian Strategists” which was written by Pov Sok.

The caption from the website above does not show the caption as “Asia’s Youngest Dictatorship” as posted by the Facebook user at all.

Ministry of Information | Archived Link

Similarly, in an interview conducted by BTV on November 2, 2021, Mr. Pov Sok, the author of the above book, stated that the purpose of his publication is to maintain and preserve the history of the great legacy of the patriotic Khmer heroes who sacrificed both time and physical and mental strength for the nation and the people of Cambodia. The following is a full video clip of an interview with a book author, Mr. Pov Sok, on BTV.

BTV News Cambodia | Archived Link

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You may find the details of this fact-check in Khmer Language here as well.

Conclusion

Fact Crescendo Cambodia found that the photo attached with the title as described above is digitally altered. This book originally is entitled “Young Asian Strategists” and was written by Pov Sok, which was published in 2021.