VOA慢速英语--柬埔寨总理脸书获赞被质疑

AS IT IS 2016-03-11 Cambodian Prime Minister’s Facebook 'Likes' Questioned 柬埔寨总理脸书获赞被质疑

Cambodia's ruling party spokesman has dismissed a report that the Prime Minister inflated² the number of "likes" on his Facebook page.

Prime Minister Hun Sen, of the Cambodian People’s Party, recently announced he had reached 3 million “likes” on the social media site. He joked that his popularity made him "the Facebook Prime Minister."

He joined Facebook six months ago. Hun Sen appeared to have overtaken opposition³ leader Sam Rainsy’s 2.2 million likes. Sam Rainsy, head of the Cambodian National Rescue Party, has been on Facebook for at least five years.

Wednesday, a report released from The Phnom Penh Post newspaper said that only about 20 percent of Hun Sen's recently added fans were Cambodia-based users. The report noted⁴ numbers from the media analytics company socialbakers.com.

Many of the “likes” came from countries whose citizens would have little reason to support Cambodia’s long-time ruler. The report also said a great number of likes posted in the past 30 days came from India, the Philippines, Burma, Indonesia, Turkey and Mexico.

The report raised the question that the prime minister might have been buying his popularity on the site.

Chok Sopheap is executive director of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights. She said she was "surprised" by the report, adding that it raises questions about the transparency of Facebook’s "likes" function. Cambodian politicians have used Facebook “likes” to compete for popularity.

She added that a politician’s popularity should not be judged by social media activity alone, but by their effectiveness as public officials.

"The real concern is that the users themselves have to understand that the number of likes they gain on Facebook does not [accurately] reflect their popularity or [whether] there’s full support for them," she said.

Nget Moses is head of the Internet technology department at Phnom Penh-based CENTRAL, an online rights advocacy group. He explained that Facebook users could pay money to advertise their Facebook posts or page, a mechanism⁵ known as "boosting."

"We cannot use money to buy likes," he told VOA Khmer. "However, what we can do is pay money to boost our page or posts in order to reach a wider audience, as well as select where the page or the posts can be most seen.”

The expert suggested that the administrators⁶ of the Prime Minister’s Facebook Page could release reports on the page.

Sok Eysan, spokesman for the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, dismissed the report. He said the prime minister had no reason to inflate¹ his online popularity. He added that it was mostly people within the nation.

Hun Sen has been in power for more than 30 years. He recently announced that Cambodians can send messages directly to his Facebook page in order to raise concerns and issues.

He also urged officials to create their own Facebook pages along with accounts for government institutions.

Political observers said Hun Sen is hoping that he can use Facebook to gain popularity. Important local, commune elections take place in 2017 and national elections are to be held the following year.

Words in This Story

inflate – v. to say something is larger or more important than it actually is

boost – v. to increase the amount of something

1 inflate   

vt.使膨胀，使骄傲，抬高（物价）

参考例句：

• The buyers bid against each other and often inflate the prices they pay.买主们竞相投标，往往人为地提高价钱。
• Stuart jumped into the sea and inflated the liferaft.斯图尔特跳到海里给救生艇充气。

2 inflated   

adj.（价格）飞涨的；（通货）膨胀的；言过其实的；充了气的v.使充气（于轮胎、气球等）( inflate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）膨胀；（使）通货膨胀；物价上涨

参考例句：

• He has an inflated sense of his own importance. 他自视过高。
• They all seem to take an inflated view of their collective identity. 他们对自己的集体身份似乎都持有一种夸大的看法。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

6 administrators   

n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师

参考例句：

• He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员，但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
• Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城