Cambodian satire in the age of Facebook and ‘trolls’

According to knowyourmeme.com, the ‘trollface’ character was created by a Californian artist for an online ‘rage comic’ in 2008 and meant to represent the facial expression of an internet troll. Scott Howes

Cambodian satire in the age of Facebook and ‘trolls’

Phnom Penh Post | 20 May 2016

Today’s young Cambodian satirists don’t sign names to their work. They stamp it with a ‘rage comic’ logo, post it on Facebook and wait for the likes to roll in.

That is, if they call themselves satirists at all. They prefer ‘troll’: Troll Khmer, Troll Second-Hand, Troll BestFriend. These pages have blossomed over the last two years, with cohorts of meme-making commentators behind them. The formula is simple: find a photo, add a comment, repost. Their ‘like’ counts now rival some celebrities and politicians.

Sopheap* leads a team of three on his Facebook page, Troll Khmer. He dresses sharply, speaks quietly and insists on anonymity. “We have 300,000 people who like our page,” he said in an interview this week. “We have to keep it interesting.”

Many of the pages’ posts are nonsensical, use base humour or are downright mean. One quotes a simple saying in Khmer: “Some people have no songsa [sweetheart] – perhaps it is because of destiny . . .” A “rage comic” interrupts. “No, it’s because of your face,” it says.

A Cambodian troll meme mocks token drought relief efforts. Photo supplied

In others, the memes satirise society in the Cambodian tradition: laced with double meaning, and at times blurring the line between politics and poking fun. Take, for example, a post from City Hall on rubbish in the city with an added “solution”: track down the litterers one-by-one, and fine them. “What is a mountain of trash worth?” it asks sarcastically.

“We post about daily life. If it is a critical thing, we criticise it to make it better,” Sopheap explained.

Reproducible humour

Sopheap, 24, created Troll Khmer in 2011, inspired by pages he had seen from other countries. His was one of the first in Cambodia, he said. Now he faces plenty of competition. There are dozens of general-humour troll pages, and now some with specific locales: a province or a university campus, for example.

Vireak* broke away from Sopheap’s page three years ago to focus on making videos with his friend Sokchea*. Their page, Troll Khmer Tinfy – named after a Khmer nickname for Chinese actor Stephen Chow – now has more likes.