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Since journalist Sarada Taing received a threat of violence from a pro-government social media personality in Cambodia in June, paranoia has become a way of life for her.
Taing, who now lives in Washington, said that on June 19, former police officer Pheng Vannak said in an audio message sent via Facebook Messenger that “if I come to Cambodia, I want my head cut off.”
In a second voice message, the caller said he knew some people in the U.S. who also hated Tyne. A few days later, on June 22, Vanak hosted a Facebook Live discussion in which he said he would kill Tyne without hesitation.
Both messages, reviewed and translated by VOA, were screeds filled with foul language, including threats of sexual violence against the journalists’ families.
“I was in shock and I was terrified. My family was terrified, too,” Tayne said. “I had no mechanism to protect myself.”
Corruption allegations
Than said Wannak had been harassing him for several years, but the latest incident appeared to have occurred after media outlets Than worked with aired a story about a Cambodian businessman accused of corruption.
Wanak, whose Facebook news page has nearly 685,000 followers, did not respond to VOA’s request for comment.
Than, who holds dual U.S. and Cambodian citizenship, was chief correspondent for Cambodia Daily, an independent English-language publication that operated in exile but closed in 2017.
On his Khmer-language video show “Idea Talk,” Taing draws 50,000 to 80,000 viewers as he challenges the Cambodian government on corruption, human rights, environmental issues and other problems.
Thein said his experience of harassment highlighted the wider challenges facing journalists working in Cambodia, where press freedom watchdogs say most independent news outlets have been shut down and authorities harass critical journalists.
Thanh’s experience highlights a trend that also exists outside Cambodia, where authoritarian governments use a tactic known as transnational repression to target dissidents outside their borders.
Grady Vaughan, co-author of Freedom House’s December report on transnational repression of journalists, said Freedom House documented 10 instances of transnational violent repression by the Cambodian government between 2014 and 2022.
“They don’t want any opposition among the exiles,” Vaughan said, referring to Cambodia’s authoritarian government. “So they try to intimidate these people into silence.”
Taing’s concerns are echoed by media watchdogs such as Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and local journalists still working inside Cambodia.
“The state of press freedom in Cambodia is deplorable,” Arthur Rochereau, a reporter for Reporters Without Borders, told VOA in Taiwan.
Still, domestic audiences rely on a handful of independent voices — including those in exile — for coverage.
“People rely on us very much,” said Tayne, who moved to the United States in 2008. “More than anything, they want to hear the truth and understand what is happening in Cambodia.”
It’s common to encounter online harassment while reporting in Phnom Penh, but Taing said the threats in June were worse than anything we’ve encountered before.
During a September trip to New York, Mr. Thanh said he was nervous covering protests against Cambodia’s new leader, Prime Minister Hun Manet, the son of Mr. Hun Sen who has led Cambodia’s strict rule for nearly four decades.
“I have to be very careful. I don’t know who likes me and who doesn’t,” Tayne said.
Foreign news sites blocked
The threats against Taing came weeks before Cambodia’s July elections, when the Cambodian government blocked several foreign news websites, Rochereau said.
Rochereau said Cambodia’s democratic transition in the early 1990s brought about a vibrant media environment. But “2017 marked a turning point as former Prime Minister Hun Sen and his family, fearing a loss of power, launched a war on Cambodia’s media,” he said.
The Southeast Asian nation currently ranks 147th out of 180 countries for press freedom, according to Reporters Without Borders.
This new era has been punctuated by media closures, including earlier this year when authorities shut down one of the few remaining independent media outlets, Voice of Democracy.
The Cambodian Embassy in Washington did not respond to VOA’s emailed request for comment.
This environment has taken its toll on journalists like Mechi Dara who are still working in Cambodia. The closure of the Voice of Democracy marked the third time that the media outlet she worked for was banned.
He worked at the Cambodia Daily when it ceased publication in 2017. The following year, he phnom penh post The outlet was sold to a public relations firm that had previously worked for the government.
“The space is getting smaller and smaller, and the risk is very high,” Dara, who now works as a freelance journalist in Cambodia, told VOA.
This fall, Voice of Democracy was relaunched in the United States.
Dara said every step of the reporting process in Cambodia is a struggle, from coming up with a story and finding sources to the intimidation and harassment that can come after a story is published.
The journalist said he had been arrested before for his work, but added that it was just part of the job.
“We are scared,” Darla said. “But I chose this path, so I have to take this path. I know something might happen, but I don’t know when. I don’t know how.”
‘I fear for my life’
Back in Washington, family is Taing’s top priority. He lives with his young son, his wife and his elderly parents.
To improve security, Tyne changed the door locks, added digital security codes and installed video surveillance. He said he also emailed the FBI and the State Department.
“Due to my work as a journalist, I fear for my life and the lives of those around me,” he wrote.
But what worries Taing most is his family still living in Cambodia.
Despite the safety concerns, Tayne said he never considered stopping working. He said his love for his country was what drove him to do his job.
“I want to see Cambodia have more freedom, more democracy and respect for human rights,” Than said. “I want the Cambodian people to have real democracy, real peace and justice.”
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