A Video of PM Hun Manet Screaming Digitally Transformed
After taking over from his father as Cambodia’s Prime Minister, Hun Manet has been targeted by claims on social media. As such, a 27-sec video clip depicting Manat screaming in a duet singing was uploaded on social media platforms. This leads to shares, reactions, and comments. However, we found the video was digitally transformed.
SOCIAL MEDIA CLAIM
A 27-sec video clip of Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet screaming in a duet singing was circulated on social media platforms last month.
The Facebook user uploaded the video wrote a caption saying the Cambodia’s premier did not know what song he sang.
elow is the full video circulated on Facebook on December 26, 2023, saying “[I don’t know] what song Hun Manet was singing.”
The same video was also uploaded on TikTok on the same day. It got a lot of views, shares, and comments as well.
FACT CHECK
Fact Crescendo Cambodia began debunking the claim above by running an image reverse search and keyword searches which led us to find out the facts below.
By running an image reverse search, we found a video of Hun Manet singing a duet song that was uploaded on social media by a Facebook user in 2020.
A two-minute video we found depicts Cambodia’s current Prime Minister Hun Manet singing a duet song titled “Sra Aem Phalla” – one of the country’s popular songs played in joyful events.
Fact Crescendo Cambodia tried to reach out the video uploader, but we had yet gotten reply.
Below is the full video of Hun Manet singing a duet song with two girls, which was uploaded on social media on August 02, 2020 – three years before he takes the office.
Responding to Fact Crescendo Cambodia, the government spokesperson Pen Bona said the 27-sec video was voiced over.
Below is a comparison between the video recently uploaded by a Facebook page News Fresh and the video uploaded on social media more than three years ago.
Being asked for more information, the spokesperson could not provide the exact date and where the video was captured, and he needed time to review it.
Meas Sophorn – a spokesperson for PM Hun Manet's Office – regarded the video as “fake news” to discredit the premier’s image.
In the video, we recognize some people such as Moeung Ponlork who is currently a general of the Ministry of National Defense.
Fact Crescendo Cambodia tried to reach out to Moeung Ponlork for specific information about the video he appeared in, but he has yet to reply to our inquiries.
Hun Manet, 47, took office in August 2023, succeeding his father Hun Sen who had been in power in Cambodia for more than 30 years.
CONCLUSION
Fact Crescendo Cambodia found out the video was digitally transformed. The video uploaded on social media three years ago depicts Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet singing the “Sra Aem Phalla” song in a duet with a girl. Clearly, he did not scream as the claim said.
