Cambodia’s strongman leader, Hun Sen, is supporting a new homegrown messaging app, CoolApp, which critics argue is a government tool to monitor and undermine political discussions in the country. Launched to compete with WhatsApp and Telegram, CoolApp aims to prevent foreign interference in Cambodian information, according to Hun Sen’s post on his official Facebook page, where he emphasized concerns about national security.
Hun Sen described CoolApp as Cambodia’s first-ever domestic program within the national security domain, comparing it to other countries’ social media platforms like China’s WeChat, Vietnam’s Zalo, South Korea’s Kakao Talk, and Russia’s Telegram.
Despite stepping down as prime minister last year, Hun Sen, one of the world’s longest-serving leaders, still holds significant power in the ruling party.
CoolApp founder and CEO Lim Cheavutha told CNN the app, downloaded 150,000 times, uses end-to-end encryption and doesn’t monitor, collect, or store user data, ensuring that only the communicating parties can access messages and calls.
He expects the app to eventually reach 500,000 to 1 million downloads, though he did not specify a timeline. In contrast, WhatsApp, the world’s most popular messaging app, has millions of users in Cambodia.
Rights groups claim that internet freedom in Cambodia has significantly regressed under Hun Sen’s rule, marked by censorship, media blackouts, and online harassment. Increased state surveillance has led to the arrest and persecution of government critics, as well as the shutdown of independent media outlets and websites. CNN has reached out to Hun Sen’s office for comment.
A frequent social media user who once denied buying Facebook likes, Hun Sen has considered banning the platform, the most popular in the country, due to online abuse from political opponents abroad. In 2023, a quasi-independent oversight board for Facebook’s parent company, Meta, recommended suspending Hun Sen’s Facebook and Instagram accounts for six months for using potentially violent language, according to Reuters.
Exiled opposition leader Mu Sochua told CNN that Cambodians should not be misled by Hun Sen’s promotion of CoolApp, describing it as another attack on civil liberties and a tool for mass surveillance similar to those used in China. Civil servants are already being ordered to download the app, with few daring to oppose.
Another exiled opposition leader, Sam Rainsy, also urged a boycott of CoolApp, arguing that it would strengthen the regime’s repressive capabilities. He pointed out Hun Sen’s history of secretly listening to private opposition discussions and controlling social media discourse.
