IN THE SPOTLIGHT :

Meta Joins Forces with MoEYS, KAPE to Launch Khmer Digital Literacy Program

Meta has joined forces with the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports (MoEYS) and Kampuchea Action to Promote Education (KAPE) to launch the Khmer Digital Literacy Program. The launch event, which took place at the Hyatt Regency in Phnom Penh on March 22, was presided over by Secretary of State of MoEYS, Sethany Kim. Meta co-organised the event with KAPE. The first phase of this project will last for six months and include several activities: selecting and training 12 master trainers,developing a digital literacy resource pack in Khmer, and testing the materials and methodology in six New Generation Schools in Cambodia. During this pilot phase, the project aims to teach between 3,000-5,000 students digital literacy skills and knowledge that they will be able to use in the real world.
At the event, Secretary of State of MoEYS, Her Excellency Sethany Kim, spoke about the importance of digital literacy in today’s world, and how the Khmer Digital Literacy Program will help to bridge the digital divide in Cambodia. Her Excellency emphasized that this program is an important step forward in ensuring that every student in Cambodia has access to the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in the digital age.

"This course will provide schools with the skills needed to thrive in the digital age. Creating a digital government requires digital citizens who need digital education”, said Her Excellency Sethany Kim."

Her Excellency also thanked Meta for working with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports and KAPE to launch the projectas part of 21st Century Skills Training.Her Excellency added that as technology continues to play an increasingly important role in our daily lives, it is crucial that students and educators are provided with the tools they need to succeed in this ever-changing landscape. Public Policy Manager of Meta in Cambodia and Laos, Dr. Pheakdey Heng, said: “At Meta, we believe that digital literacy is important for everyone to fully participate in the current digital world. We are proud to support the Khmer Digital Literacy Program and efforts to provide Cambodians with the skills needed to use the Internet safely and effectively”. The Khmer Digital Literacy Program will be included in the study curriculum to help students and educators enhance their digital literacy skills. The program will run from April to October 2023 and will be a valuable addition to the education system in Cambodia.

Meta, and the Digital Economy and Business Committee (DEBC) joined forces to help Cambodian companiesimprove their digital marketing skills.Local businesses, social enterprises and civil society​organisations attended the official launch of the training​ program on March 29 at the Oakwood Premier Hotel in Phnom Penh. His Excellency Kong Mary, Under-Secretary of State of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, attended the launch. Addressing the audience, His Excellency highlighted the potential and opportunities to use digital technology to increase the productivity and efficiency of business operations and expand the business market in the digital economy and business sector. He said that the opportunity existed for both small and medium enterprises. Dr. Pheakdey Heng, public policy manager of Meta in Cambodia and Laos, said during his opening remarks that the training program on social media marketing for Cambodia’s enterprises support the capacity building of business owners to use social media more effectively. He added that ‘the use of social media is an important factor in business marketing’. The Digital Marketing on Social Media for Cambodia’s Enterprises training program is an 8-week course that is expected to improve the digital marketing skills of 100 entrepreneurs. The course will also provide training on how to use social media as a tool to run their business. For this year, the program will be divided into 2 sections -  with 50 attendees in each. Those who take part in the course will have the chance to learn from professionals in the field and apply what they learn to practical activities. This program is a timely and significant chance for businesses to keep ahead of the curve given the growing significance of social media as a marketing medium.

On March 17, Meta invited representatives from 17 key political parties in Cambodia to discuss our advertising policy andtransparency measures. It was the third workshop on this topic that we organized for different stakeholders in Cambodia. The workshop, which took place at the Hyatt Regency in Phnom Penh, started with an opening remark from our NGO partner, COMFREL, followed by Meta’s presentations on our community standar ds and our policies on political and electoral advertising. The attendees were also given the opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback on the policies and measures. One of the key takeaways from the workshop was the importance of transparency when it comes to political advertising. Attendees learned about Facebook’s new ad authorisation process, which requires advertisers to verify their identities and disclose who is paying for the ads they run. This process is designed to increase transparency and accountability in the political advertising space and to help protect the integrity of the upcoming election. Another highlight of the training was the opportunity for attendees to network with other political parties, embassies, and NGOs. The event provided a forum for participants to share their experiences and insights, and to learn from one another’s successes and challenges.

“We are glad to collaborate with Meta to organize this event, which we believe is in the public interest,” said Chhorn Kim,Director of COMFREL. He added that “We would like to encourage political parties and all those who use Facebook andother social media to respect the community guidelines as well as the policies that such platforms have to protect the interests of their users.”

Whether you are a government, political or nonprofit organization, your Facebook Page is an important part of your online presence that helps you spread your message, and connect and engage with your community. Facebook’s New Pages Experience makes these activities even easier and more efficient for you. In addition to a new design and layout that makes navigating between public and personal accounts easier, we’ve added a dedicated News Feed and more relevant notifications, features designed with integrity and security in mind, task-based admin permission features and actionable insights to help account management, shape content strategy and increase digital organization.
These updates include: a cleaner and more intuitive layout makes it easier for your followers to see your bio, posts and other important information on your page. We’ve also removed page likes to focus on followers and simplify the way people connect with your page. In your News Feed, you can interact with other pages and profiles to easily connect with your followers, join discussions with other public figures and increase your visibility online. This helps you stay organized, participate in meaningful conversations, develop organic relationships with new communities and have a defined voice online. With new page permissions, admins can moderate page management by granting Facebook access or task access. You can create multiple admin roles or assign task-based permissions individually for specific items such as advertising, content creation, or insights. Page Insights provide in-depth data to help identify best performing content, audience trends and shape a comprehensive
digital strategy. These metrics can now be accessed directly from a post and allow you to analyze how your page is doing and help you create content that speaks to your audience.
The New Pages Experience provides a new level of interaction for you to create community between other government, political and advocacy pages and your supporters, and its new features and tools increase functionality for you to ensure that your investment in time on Facebook is engaging and meaningful to your communities.

Meta Announces a New Tool to Help Prevent Spread of Young People’s Intimate Images Online

Meta has worked with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to create a new tool called “Take It Down” portal to help prevent young people’s intimate images from being posted online. The Take It Down portal is a new tool designed to combat the growing problem of non-consensual sharing of intimate images online, also known as revenge porn. The new tool will be applied to Meta’s Facebook and Instagram platforms. The portal will allow victims to report images to the NCMEC, which will then work with social media companies to remove the content and prevent it from being shared further. Meta has already taken steps to prevent the sharing of intimate images on their platforms, but this new partnership with the NCMEC will enable the company to do even more to protect their users. Recently in Cambodia, Meta launched a S top Non-consensual Intimate Image (StopNCII) portal for Cambodian people over the age of 18. With the introduction of the new portal, Cambodians can now go to stopncii.org to take down intimate images of them that they believe are going around on Meta platforms. The StopNCII portal is available in the Khmer
language. Now, users can visit TakeItDown.NCMEC.org and follow the instructions to submit a case that will actively search for their intimate images on participating apps. By doing so, the Take It Down assigns a unique hash value, which is a numerical code, to their image or video. The hash is obtained privately and directly from the user’s device. Once the hash is submitted to NCME C, social media companies can use it to locate any copies of the image, remove them, and prevent the content from appearing on their apps in the future. The Take It Down is designed with young people’s privacy and data security in mind, and users are only required to submit a hash, not the actual image or video. Hashing involves transforming images or videos into a coded form that cannot be viewed, resulting in secure digital fingerprints.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

Meta Contributes to the 2023 Asia Telecom and Media Forum

On February 16, M eta par ticipated in the Asia Telecommunications & Media Forum, co-hosted by the International Institute of Communications and the Telecommunication Regulator of Cambodia under the theme “Regulation in the Digital Era: What Does It Take to Adapt to the Rapidly Changing Landscape?” The forum, which was chaired by Cambodian Telecom Minister Chea Vandeth, was  attended by over 100 professionals from the regulators (OFCOM of the UK, CRA of Qatar, TRA of Bahrain, NBTC of Thailand, IMDA of Singapore, MCMC of Malaysia, etc.), tech companies, vendors and telecom/media players including Google, Amazon, AT&T, Verizon, Axiata, Cisco, Tencent, etc. Meta’s experts spoke in two panel discussions: “Countering harmful online content to pr event consumer harm” and “The metaverse and digital assets: what do policy makers and regulators need to know?”

Meta Plays Part in ‘Digital Economy in Asia’ at ASEAN-focused Forum

Meta’s Public Policy Manager in Cambodia and Laos, Dr Pheakdey Heng, joined an Asean-focused forum in late March to discuss the ‘Digital Economy in Asia. As a guest speaker at the event, Dr Pheakdey Heng shared his insights on the digital economy, including the challenges and opportunities that it presents. He spoke about the importance of digital literacy and skills development, as well as the need for policies and regulations that promote innovation and growth in the sector. Meta Plays Part in ‘Digital Economy in Asia’ at ASEAN-focused Forum 07 Meta’s experts spoke in two panel discussions: “Countering harmful online content to pr event consumer harm” and “The metaverse and digital assets: what do policy makers and regulators need to know?” The two-day forum is an initiative of the “Promoting the Digital Economy in Asia” program, a network of business chambers in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, and Thailand that advocates for
the private sector. Leading thinkers, innovators, and policy-makers were able to explore the most recent trends and advancements in the digital economy at the Digital Economy forum.