The opportunity that people all over Cambodia have to enjoy free social media posts of messages and pictures through some popular social networks like Facebook, Youtube, and TikTok as well as other popular social networks is also an opportunity for false information to invade our eyes and minds.  Of course, if this raises a lot of concerns, there are many positives because when there are many sources, there can also be more analysis/ thinking.

In the old era of technology before social media, people received information through the media such as television, radio, publishing in leaflets, newspapers, magazines, mail and through a few screened films. Etc. The limited media gave less opportunity to consider and seek additional sources of information to be credible, almost non-existent, we could only consider with our own ideas, with only a few pictures and messages or inquiries, together without many diverse sources. This makes it difficult to decide whether the information is totally accurate as published.

For this age of modern technology, especially the so-called era of free social media, almost every adult can access all kinds of information from anywhere in the world. Thus, people have many opportunities to search for the real source and also easily evaluate and determine the truth or falsity of all that information because there are many opportunities to gather different sources to compare. However, they can also be biased by favoritism or preferences for famous personalities from any source. Thus, conscious self-control is necessary for each person, which is the greatest value.

For example, when a person named “A” publishes something, we need to ask ourselves:  “Who is he as a person? "What has he accomplished so far?"  "What is his reputation?” "What were his actions that made positive changes?" "What are the weaknesses or negative things that are said about him?" There are many other pieces of important information that may be connected with "A" and we can research the various sources that are published so that we can evaluate or make our own decisions about him.

Therefore, free social media can provide many sources of information for people to research and make decisions.

Free and open social media also provides many opportunities for a close relationship between the group members and one-on-one conversations between people everywhere in the world. Research has shown that free social media has also increased the efficiency of communication and job engagement, as managers can track and control tasks effectively and save a lot of time..

There are many memorable images and personal history documents that can be stored on social media storage. The more people keep such personal histories, the more they can recall events in life for a long time, which is a pleasant part for the mind and emotions of each of us.

However there are also many issues that lead to debate.

What are the obstacles or negative factors of social media?

Stealing the confidential files: There have been several allegations regarding the security of file management on the internet, which have been hacked by hackers who pose a risk or insecurity. Individuals as well as national security have been targeted by those rogue thieves.

Psychological and negative mental effects that eventually lead to negative physical effects: Excessive use of information technology devices/ screens (mobile phones, computers or televisions, etc.) and all kinds of disseminated information poses a risk of mental and emotional harm. Dangers affect the physical health/ body functioning, especially the eyes, brain and heart, which reach other parts of the body due to the excessive levels of use or habits that pose a high risk of being addicted to technology and absorbing bad information every day, according to health experts.

Belief in False Propaganda: Superstition to the false information without a variety of sources to make comparisons and proper analysis leads to wrong decisions. Disadvantages from believing in false information lead to people losing the value of decision making. The right decision depends on access to all sources of information, which is essential for thinking clearly. Making the right decisions will avoid risks or danger in our lives or futures.

Underage children obsess over social media: Developing good health and education for children is essential, but a large number of children are affected by the obsessive use of technology and social media of their parents or they play by themselves with those devices. The observation is that parents gave technology devices like mobile phones for children to play and watch videos. And some allow underage children to access social media accounts such as Facebook and YouTube that allow children to absorb images that are not age-appropriate, as well as the ability to receive them. In addition, children are wasting time which takes away from creative activities and interacting with their neighbors, which is an important opportunity for their personal growth. Lack of supervision from adults can lead children to imitate those images and other media at any time and forever. Physical and emotional exposure of children is also very risky if they see the screen image that is not appropriate to their age. Nowadays, movies that are shown on television and social media will easily allow children to access and watch freely without restrictions from their parents.

Restrictions and controls on the social networks: Social networks are designed to be used openly for individuals and the community, in ways that are appropriate to their age and social status. Too much control can lead to a lack of comprehensive sources of information to make the decisions about everything in life, as well as affect the individual future for vagueness which affects the value of decisions. On the contrary, the open and free sources of information as well as the free expression on social media makes it easier for people in the public to consider what is true and fake rather than having limited sources and opinions..

Bullying: Publishing that promotes the behaviors or images differently from the original form leads the viewers to confuse or to be frustrated when they are meeting the original image out of social media. This is an attitude that can have psychological or emotional consequences. And this mistake leads to a loss of trust. Real value should be revealed on social media. They should learn about true decoration and creativity directly in and out, rather than relying on technology that can only prove untruth in what is true to the public.

Fake news: Fake news has become more popular on open social media. However, it is up to individual discretion. The factor for judgment is when people have a reflection of what is true or false based on the comparison of various sources.. Therefore, many different sources, both true and false,together, allows the recipient of the information to make a balance, and they need more verification from a lot of sources before deciding which is true and which is false.

Copying/ Copyright: For open-source information, everything is published free with a lack of scrutiny. Therefore, viewers who see that information or images may also copy it without permission. Some could have a negative impact, such as infringement on intellectual property. Although some media tools offer the benefit of doing something the way it is presented, in some cases duplication can only solve one problem at a time, but does not provide basic and consistent knowledge. Unlike a career where you have to go to college and study every day.

It has been noticed that on social media, there are a lot of attractive advertisements that make people copy human forms and gestures by having plastic surgery. It is known that implantation through facelifts or  plastic surgery can cause many physical and mental health effects, even social consequences. Knowing that each person is born with different personality and characteristics, we do not have to copy or shape to be like the body of another person who is a popular star or someone else. You can also create your own popularity by just learning from examples, but not completely copying. Social media tools are just one part of complementing the skills we learn outside.

Hacking: The Internet is also the target of thieves who use it to deceive or steal personal information. Concerns are currently being raised about access to the private accounts that pose a risk to personal security, money laundering/ stealing or kidnapping etc. Despite strict control, many cases occur for no apparent reason. It can be assumed that anything used on the Internet poses a risk of hacking and technology's efforts to tighten security as much as possible.

In the current decade, with the advance of artificial intelligence computer programs to the world, technology development experts have been actively debating in the media the pros and cons of evolution of this new technology.

Artificial intelligence is as revolutionary as mobile phones and the Internet:

Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by humans or by other animals. For example, tasks in which this is done include speech recognition, computer vision, translation between (natural) languages, as well as other mappings of inputs.

AI applications include advanced web search engines (e.g., Google Search), recommendation systems (used by YouTube, Amazon, and Netflix), understanding human speech (such as Siri and Alexa), self-driving cars (e.g., Waymo), generative or creative tools (ChatGPT and AI art), automated decision-making, and competing at the highest level in strategic game systems (such as chess and Go). 

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has voiced his fears about the speed of Artificial Intelligence (AI) development - but does not think work on the new technology should be paused. 

Gates said he believes AI is a game-changing technology, describing it as 'pretty fundamental' noting how its implications for the future are vast.

'We're all scared a bad guy could grab it,' Gates said in an interview with ABC News, but he said the development of such tech should continue.

In conclusion, information technology as well as social networks that the developers strive to create are all aimed at facilitating our needs: entertainment, work as well as personal communication and in the face of the business world. Allowing the wicked to control global technology poses a high risk to people as well as the world.

Beyond our understanding, everything in this world does not happen by chance. The rulers of the world are not people or the system of modern technology today. If the creators and rulers of the world did not allow everything to happen as it is today, the world could not change. To this day, God loves us all, He is the Creator and Ruler of the world. He wants us to know this great truth and when we know the truth, we are free and will feel peaceful without worrying or fearing what will happen in the future, for God is in control and because of His control we are safe.