top of page
Asian Institute of Research, Journal Publication, Journal Academics, Education Journal, Asian Institute
Asian Institute of Research, Journal Publication, Journal Academics, Education Journal, Asian Institute

Journal of Social and Political

Sciences

ISSN 2615-3718 (Online)

ISSN 2621-5675 (Print)

asia insitute of research, journal of social and political sciences, jsp, aior, journal publication, humanities journal, social journa
asia insitute of research, journal of social and political sciences, jsp, aior, journal publication, humanities journal, social journa
asia insitute of research, journal of social and political sciences, jsp, aior, journal publication, humanities journal, social journa
asia insitute of research, journal of social and political sciences, jsp, aior, journal publication, humanities journal, social journa
crossref
doi
open access

Published: 18 January 2024

Online Political Discourse in Cambodia: Does Facebook Serve as a Public Sphere or the Spiral of Silence?

Seyha Chan

The University of Melbourne

journal of social and political sciences
pdf download

Download Full-Text Pdf

doi

10.31014/aior.1991.07.01.463

Pages: 25-37

Keywords: Political Opinion Expression, Online Political Participation, Political Self-Disclosure, Social Media, The Spiral of Silence

Abstract

With the emergence of web-as-participation platforms, social media such as Facebook allows users to discuss public opinion for political and social changes in both small groups and the public sphere. To understand whether Facebook is a free without-fear public sphere, this study aimed to investigate the attitudes and behaviours of Facebook users toward political opinion expression on the political Facebook platform called Politikoffee. To address this research gap, this study focused on Cambodian Politikoffee participants aged between 18 and 33, who are considered active tech-savvy and public activists. The data were collected through digital ethnography on the Politikoffee Facebook platforms and in-depth semi-structured interviews with 8 respondents. To gain comprehensive insights into the attitudes and behaviours of Facebook users toward political opinion expression, the results were analysed in conjunction with the ‘Spiral of Silence Theory’. The spiral of silence theory suggests that users tend to express their genuine ideas when they feel the majority supports their opinion. In contrast, they might remain silent if they realise only a small social group upholds their idea because they fear social isolation. In examining whether Facebook serves as a free and fear-free public sphere, the study discovered that Facebook users were concerned about online political discourse due to socio-psychological factors, including 1) the restriction of freedom of expression, 2) the fear of political arrest, 3) the prevalence of political nepotism, 4) worries about digital surveillance, 5) concerns about digital footprint, 6) political knowledge deficiency, and 7) the traumatising effects of civil war, which can trigger their self-censorship.

References

  1. Association for Progressive Communications. (2017). Unshackling expression: A study on laws criminalising expression online in Asia. https://www.giswatch.org/sites/default/files/giswspecial2017_web.pdf

  2. Chunly, S. (2019). Facebook and political participation in Cambodia: Determinants and impact of online political behaviours in an authoritarian state. South East Asia Research, 27(4), 378–397. https://doi.org/10.1080/0967828X.2019.1692635

  3. Datareportal. (2023). Digital 2023: Cambodia. https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2023-cambodia

  4. Diamond, L. (2010). Liberation technology. Journal of Democracy, 21(3), 68—83.

  5. Din, D. (2020). Cambodian identity, culture, and legacy. In Deth, S. U., Murg, B. J., Ou, V. & Renfrew, M. (Eds), Cambodian 2040: Culture and society. Future Forum and Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.

  6. Doyle, K. J. (2021). Co-opted social media and the practice of active silence in Cambodia. Contemporary Southeast Asia, 43(2), 293-320. DOI: 10.1355/cs43-2

  7. Duncan, M., Pelled, A., Wise, D., Ghosh, S., Shan, Y., Zheng, M., & McLeod, D. (2020). Staying silent and speaking out in online comment sections: The influence of spiral of silence and corrective action in reaction to news. Computers in Human Behavior, 102, 192–205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.08.026

  8. Ellison, N. B., Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of Facebook “Friends:” social capital and college students’ use of online social network sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(4), 1143–1168. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00367.x

  9. Eng, N., & Hughes, C. (2017). Coming of age in peace, prosperity, and connectivity: Cambodia’s young electorate and its impact on the ruling party’s political strategies. Critical Asian Studies, 49(3), 396–410. https://doi.org/10.1080/14672715.2017.1341185

  10. Freedom House. (2021). Freedom in the world 2021. https://freedomhouse.org/country/cambodia/freedom-world/2021

  11. Freedom House. (2022). Freedom on the net 2022: Cambodia. https://freedomhouse.org/country/cambodia/freedom-net/2022

  12. Geiger, N., & Swim, J. K. (2016). Climate of silence: Pluralistic ignorance as a barrier to climate change discussion. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 47, 79–90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2016.05.002

  13. Georgakopoulou, A., & Spilioti, T. (Eds.). (2016). The Routledge handbook of language and digital communication. Routledge.

  14. Gil De Zúñiga, H., Jung, N., & Valenzuela, S. (2012). Social media use for news and individuals’ social capital, civic engagement and political participation. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 17(3), 319–336. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2012.01574.x

  15. Habermas, J. (1989). The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society. MIT Press.

  16. Hampton, K. N., Rainie, L., Lu, W., Dwyer, M., Shin, I., & Purcell, K. (2014). Social media and the ‘spiral of silence’. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2014/08/26/social-media-and-the-spiral-of-silence/

  17. Kopp, C., Green, D., & Seeme, F. (2019). Pluralistic ignorance: a trade-off between group conformity and cognitive dissonance. In M. Lee, T. Gedeon & K. W. Wong (Eds.), Neural information processing: 26th informational conference, ICONIP 2019, Sydney, NSW, Australia, December 12-15, 2019 proceeding, part II (pp. 665-705). Springer Nature Switzerland.

  18. Kruse, L. M., Norris, D. R., & Flinchum, J. R. (2018). Social media as a public sphere? politics on social media. The Sociological Quarterly, 59(1), 62–84. https://doi.org/10.1080/00380253.2017.1383143

  19. Liu, Y., Rui, J. R., & Cui, X. (2017). Are people willing to share their political opinions on Facebook? Exploring roles of self-presentational concern in spiral of silence. Computers in Human Behavior, 76, 294–302. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.07.029

  20. Masten, D. L., & Plowman, T. M. P. (2003). Digital ethnography: The next wave in understanding the consumer experience. Design Management Journal (Former Series), 14(2), 75–81. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1948-7169.2003.tb00044.x

  21. Miller, D. T., & McFarland, C. (1987). Pluralistic ignorance: When similarity is interpreted as dissimilarity. Journal of Personal and Social Psychology. 53(1), 298-305.

  22. Morris, D. S., & Morris, J. S. (2013). Digital inequality and participation in the political process: Real or imagined? Social Science Computer Review, 31(5), 589–600. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894439313489259

  23. Noelle-Neumann, E. (1974). The spiral of silence a theory of public opinion. Journal of Communication, 24(2), 43–51. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.1974.tb00367.x

  24. Vong, M., & Hok, K. (2018). Facebooking: Youth’s everyday politics in Cambodia. South East Asia Research, 26(3), 219–234. https://doi.org/10.1177/0967828X17754113

  25. Vorn, M. & Ly, Y. (2020). Promoting better governance through Facebook: A pilot study and analysis. https://www.kas.de/en/web/kambodscha/single-title/-/content/promoting-better-governance-through-facebook-a-pilot-study-and-analysis

  26. Young, S. (2021). Internet, Facebook, competing political narratives, and political control in Cambodia. Media Asia, 48(1), 67–76. https://doi.org/10.1080/01296612.2021.1881285

bottom of page