{
  "id": 144,
  "slug": "2023-cambodia-shutters-voice-of-democracy",
  "title": "Cambodia: Prime Minister Hun Sen orders Voice of Democracy's license revoked over one article",
  "occurred_on": "2023-02-13",
  "occurred_on_precision": "day",
  "ended_on": null,
  "jurisdiction": "KH",
  "country": "KH",
  "continent": "asia",
  "level": "national",
  "type": null,
  "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing",
  "leader_slug": "hun-sen",
  "issue_of_the_day": "The article, published February 8, 2023, reported that Hun Sen's son and eventual successor, Hun Manet, had overstepped his authority by signing a $100,000 earthquake aid agreement for Turkiye.",
  "outcome": "sustained",
  "outcome_on": "2023-02-13",
  "outcome_note": "The Ministry of Information revoked the license as Hun Sen ordered, with no reversal reported in the source reviewed.",
  "granularity": "granular",
  "era": "2020s",
  "summary": "Prime Minister Hun Sen personally ordered the license of independent outlet Voice of Democracy revoked over an article about an earthquake-aid agreement signed by his son, rejecting the outlet's published apology.{c:516}{c:517}{c:583}",
  "what_happened": "On February 12, 2023, Prime Minister Hun Sen said Voice of Democracy had defamed him and his son Hun Manet in a February 8 article alleging Hun Manet exceeded his authority by signing a $100,000 earthquake aid agreement with Turkiye. Hun Sen initially demanded the outlet verify its facts and apologize within 72 hours. When Voice of Democracy published a further apology on the morning of February 13, Hun Sen said on social media that he was standing by his order to revoke its license, and the Ministry of Information revoked it that day. Voice of Democracy's associate editor, Ananth Baliga, said the closure of independent media would leave corruption unchecked and let those in power act without restraint. The outlet had operated for more than a decade as one of Cambodia's few independent Khmer- and English-language news sources.{c:516}{c:517}{c:583}\n\nThe license revocation took effect February 13, 2023; the source reviewed does not report a reversal.{c:516}{c:517}{c:583}",
  "stated_justification": "Hun Sen said Voice of Democracy \"intentionally slandered him and his son Hun Manet\" in the February 8 article about the earthquake aid agreement.{c:516}",
  "effect_on_reporting": "One of Cambodia's few remaining independent news outlets lost its operating license entirely over a single article, ending more than a decade of publication.{c:517}",
  "unknowns": "The source reviewed does not state whether Voice of Democracy pursued a legal challenge to the revocation.",
  "status": "in_effect",
  "status_updated_on": "2026-09-22",
  "external_ids": {},
  "illustration_key": null,
  "pub_state": "published",
  "published_at": "2026-09-23T01:16:23Z",
  "reviewed_on": "2026-09-22",
  "next_review_on": "2026-12-22",
  "revision": 9,
  "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:16:17Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-09-23T02:20:55Z",
  "stage": "silence",
  "ladder_note": "The head of government personally ordered a national outlet's operating license revoked over one article, rejecting a published apology, rather than pursuing a defamation suit.",
  "country_name": "Cambodia",
  "tactics": [
    "outlet_licensing"
  ],
  "leader": {
    "slug": "hun-sen",
    "name": "Hun Sen",
    "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/hun-sen"
  },
  "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-cambodia-shutters-voice-of-democracy",
  "page_meta": {
    "published": "2026-09-23T01:16:23Z",
    "reviewed": "2026-09-22",
    "sources": 2,
    "status": "in_effect",
    "statusAsOf": "2026-09-22",
    "unknowns": "The source reviewed does not state whether Voice of Democracy pursued a legal challenge to the revocation."
  },
  "actors": [
    {
      "slug": "hun-sen",
      "name": "Hun Sen",
      "kind": "person",
      "role": "ordered",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/hun-sen"
    }
  ],
  "outlets": [
    {
      "slug": "voice-of-democracy",
      "name": "Voice of Democracy",
      "relation": "affected",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/outlets/voice-of-democracy"
    }
  ],
  "journalists": [
    {
      "slug": "ananth-baliga",
      "name": "Ananth Baliga",
      "outlet": "voice-of-democracy",
      "relation": "affected",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/journalists/ananth-baliga"
    }
  ],
  "cases": [],
  "related": [],
  "events": [],
  "claims": [
    {
      "id": 516,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 144,
      "field": "stated_justification",
      "value": "Hun Sen's stated reason",
      "statement": "Hun Sen said the outlet had slandered him and his son over the earthquake aid article.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 351,
      "evidence_quote": "intentionally slandered him and his son Hun Manet",
      "evidence_date": "2023-02-13",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:16:19Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 351,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2023/02/cambodian-authorities-shutter-voice-of-democracy-news-outlet/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2023/02/cambodian-authorities-shutter-voice-of-democracy-news-outlet/",
        "title": "Cambodian authorities shutter Voice of Democracy news outlet",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2023-02-13",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/516"
    },
    {
      "id": 517,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 144,
      "field": "effect_on_reporting",
      "value": "editor warns of unchecked corruption",
      "statement": "Voice of Democracy's associate editor said the absence of independent media would let corruption go unchecked.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 351,
      "evidence_quote": "The absence of independent media will only allow corruption to go unchecked and those in positions of power to run amok.",
      "evidence_date": "2023-02-13",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:16:21Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 351,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2023/02/cambodian-authorities-shutter-voice-of-democracy-news-outlet/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2023/02/cambodian-authorities-shutter-voice-of-democracy-news-outlet/",
        "title": "Cambodian authorities shutter Voice of Democracy news outlet",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2023-02-13",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/517"
    },
    {
      "id": 583,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 144,
      "field": "action",
      "value": "license revoked, February 13, 2023",
      "statement": "The license was announced revoked the Sunday after the article ran and took effect Monday morning despite a second apology.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 351,
      "evidence_quote": "Hun Sen 'replied on Facebook saying he was standing by his closure order.'",
      "evidence_date": "2023-02-13",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:31:37Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 351,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2023/02/cambodian-authorities-shutter-voice-of-democracy-news-outlet/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2023/02/cambodian-authorities-shutter-voice-of-democracy-news-outlet/",
        "title": "Cambodian authorities shutter Voice of Democracy news outlet",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2023-02-13",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/583"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": 351,
      "url": "https://cpj.org/2023/02/cambodian-authorities-shutter-voice-of-democracy-news-outlet/",
      "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2023/02/cambodian-authorities-shutter-voice-of-democracy-news-outlet/",
      "title": "Cambodian authorities shutter Voice of Democracy news outlet",
      "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
      "published_on": "2023-02-13",
      "link_state": "live",
      "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
      "wayback_url": null,
      "wayback_saved_at": null
    },
    {
      "id": 431,
      "url": "https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/cambodias-hun-sen-orders-shutdown-last-independent-local-news-outlet-2023-02-12/",
      "final_url": null,
      "title": "Cambodia's Hun Sen orders shutdown of independent local news outlet",
      "publisher": "Reuters",
      "published_on": "2023-02-12",
      "link_state": "unchecked",
      "link_state_since": null,
      "wayback_url": null,
      "wayback_saved_at": null
    }
  ],
  "revisions_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-cambodia-shutters-voice-of-democracy/revisions",
  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  },
  "cite_as": "Cambodia: Prime Minister Hun Sen orders Voice of Democracy's license revoked over one article. The War On News, thewaronnews.com. https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-cambodia-shutters-voice-of-democracy. Retrieved 2026-09-23."
}