Click to expand Image Children watch news reports about the situation along the Thai-Cambodian border, in Sisaket province in northeastern Thailand, July 27, 2025. © 2025 loy Phutpheng/SOPA Images/Sipa USA via AP Photo (Bangkok) – Cambodian authorities have arbitrarily arrested and charged at least 16 people for expressing their views on social media about the Thai-Cambodia border conflict in July and August 2025, Human Rights Watch said today.The authorities charged most of those arrested with incitement under articles 494 and 495 of Cambodia’s Criminal Code, which carries up to 2 years in prison. At least 3 face treason charges and could receive penalties of 5 to 15 years. The government should immediately release and drop the charges against the journalists, social media users, and political opposition members being prosecuted for exercising their rights to freedom of expression.“Cambodian authorities are using the recent Thai border conflict as a pretext to intimidate people who freely express their views on social media and to harass critics of the government,” said Bryony Lau, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “These wrongful detentions and misuse of incitement and treason charges show the Cambodian government’s disregard for free expression and media freedom.”After weeks of mounting tension in disputed border areas, armed clashes between Thailand and Cambodia erupted on July 24 and lasted about two weeks. Both countries alleged that the other started the fighting. Thailand accused Cambodia of planting landmines that injured Thai soldiers, while Cambodia said that Thailand was using cluster munitions.On October 29, Cambodian authorities arrested an activist, Phon Yuth, at his home in Takeo province. The Takeo Provincial Court later released a statement confirming that he had been charged with incitement due to several alleged Facebook posts that were critical of the government’s handling of the conflict.Yuth, who has a physical disability and uses a wheelchair, was previously arrested twice: in 2019, and again in 2024, both times over his social media posts critical of the government. Cambodian prisons are overcrowded and he reported difficulty using the toilet and accessing adequate health care during his 2019 prison sentence.Cambodian authorities have also recently targeted journalists for their coverage of the border conflict, with three arrested since July. The authorities had revoked the media license for Sara NCC Daily a week before they arrested Meas Sara, a journalist who worked for the outlet, in late August. He had live-streamed interviews with displaced Cambodian villagers from an area along the Thai border. The authorities charged him with incitement and released him shortly after his arrest, but he remains under judicial supervision as his case proceeds.Two other journalists, Phorn Sopheap of the Battambang Post, and Pheap Pheara of TSP 68 TV Online, were arrested and charged with “supplying a foreign state with information prejudicial to national defense” under article 445 of the Criminal Code, a more serious conspiracy charge. Both men were arrested after they posted on social media a photograph of themselves alongside Cambodian soldiers at Ta Krabei temple near the Thai border. Thai media outlets later republished the photograph and alleged it showed unplaced landmines in the background.Sopheap and Pheara have been held in pretrial detention and face between 7 and 15 years in prison if convicted.Chheng Sreyrath, an online celebrity known as Love Riya, was arrested on August 14 for her social media commentary saying that she would continue to buy legally available Thai products despite online calls for a boycott. The authorities charged her with “incitement to discriminate” and “demoralizing the military” under articles 496 and 472 of the Criminal Code. She faces a prison term of two to five years if convicted.The government crackdown has also ensnared political opposition members and critics who expressed their views on the border conflict. The authorities arrested and detained several members of the opposition Nation Power Party for incitement for Facebook posts or comments expressing their views about the government’s handling of the border conflict. Those arrested include Soeung Heang, a district party chief in Battambang province, and Eam Ravuth, a party official in Phnom Penh.Keo Heang, 75, the provincial secretary for the Nation Power Party in Kampot province, was arrested in early July shortly after posting criticism of amendments to Cambodia’s Constitution and Nationality Law that give the government sweeping powers to revoke citizenship. The former prime minister and current Senate president, Hun Sen, had remarked that the amendments were necessary to allow the government to strip citizenship of Cambodians accused of colluding with foreign powers.The Cambodian government has a long record of restricting free expression through the misapplication of criminal charges. The government has consistently misused incitement charges to suppress critics of the government. In 2021, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Cambodia expressed concern about the improper use of incitement charges.Since Hun Manet became prime minister in 2023 after his father stepped down, the government has increasingly used treason charges to crack down on fundamental freedoms, filing them against political opposition members and environmental activists in 2021, land rights activists in 2023, student group leaders and refugees in 2024, and now social media users and journalists in 2025.“All Cambodians have the right to express themselves both online and offline, and should not be detained and charged simply for expressing a critical opinion,” Lau said. “Concerned foreign governments should urge Cambodian authorities to drop these baseless charges and release individuals unlawfully detained.”