Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has backed down from threats to cut off access to Facebook in his country.
However, he has declared that Facebook representatives would no longer be welcome Cambodia.
The announcement late Friday night came after Facebook said it was taking down a video in which Hun Sen threatened political opponents.
The announcement by Hun Sen came just before campaigning began for elections widely seen as sham after the main opposition was barred from participating.
Earlier in the day, Hun Sen had threatened to block the platform entirely, but later appeared to soften that stance. “I have no intention to ban Facebook in Cambodia,” he said on Telegram, his new platform of choice.
“I am not so stupid as to block the breaths of all the people.”
Hun Sen did, however, say the social media giant’s representatives would “no longer be allowed in Cambodia”.
The country’s telecommunications ministry later cited “interference in the country’s political affairs” as a reason for the move, but did not give details on the number of staff affected.
Meta declined to comment on the matter, or to disclose how many representatives, if any, it had in Cambodia.
