Cambodia opposition supporter shot as Hun Sen threatens to jail opponent

A supporter of Cambodia’s Candlelight Party was shot dead in Tbong Khmum province over the weekend, the latest in a series of attacks on the opposition in a year of local elections and campaigning for 2023 parliamentary voting, his wife and supporters said Monday.

Candlelight Party’s vice-chairman Thach Setha told RFA that he could not yet conclude whether the killing Sunday of Po Hin Lean, a 49-year-old father of three, was a political assassination. He urged authorities in the province’s Orang Ov district to conduct a prompt investigation.

“A clear investigation must be conducted to catch the perpetrators and bring them to justice, to stop such killing whether it happens to political activists or [ordinary] people,” said Thach Setha.

Police chief On Sam On of Chak commune, where Po Hin Lean lived,  refused to provide any details on the case when contacted by RFA Khmer. Orang Ov authorities were not available and provincial police chief Mon Meakara hung up the phone after receiving a call from RFA.

“Who shot my husband?” asked Wen Kimyi, the victim’s wife. 

“The police officer said the village security guard was the shooter. I said it was not the village security guard who fired, because the village security guard did not have a gun. The policeman said he had a gun, so he did not talk to me further,” she added.

This year has seen a rise in violent attacks targeting activists and supporters of the Candlelight Party, an opposition party that emerged this year from the ashes of the Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP), which was banned and dissolved by the country’s supreme court in 2017.

In April, during campaigning for June local elections, Candlelight Party candidate Khorn Tun was attacked by unidentified men who threw rocks at her home in Tabaung Khmom province, while Prak Seyha — a party youth leader for Phnom Penh’s Kambol district — was attacked and beaten by a mob.

Those incidents followed the death of Phnom Penh Candlelight candidate Choeun Sarim, who was attacked from behind and killed in traffic while traveling by motorbike, following threats and assaults.

The latest attack came a day before Prime Minister Hun Sen threatened to arrest opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who has lived in exile in France since 2015, the moment he returns to Cambodia.

Sam Rainsy, 73, was sentenced in absentia in March 2021  to 25 years in jail for what supporters say was a politically motivated charge of attempting to overthrow the government.

Speaking at a graduation ceremony for students at a university in Phnom Penh on October 17. Hun Sun said he would “eliminate the three generations of the ideology of the contemptible traitor [Sam Rainsy]…but I will not kill you.” 

Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia since 1985, was responding to recent remarks by Sam Rainsy  criticizing the strongman’s plans to appoint his son, Hun Manet, as his replacement.

“I believe there will be strong opposition to Hun Sen’s transfer of power to his dynasty. We want a succession of young Cambodians who are capable and accomplished, but we do not want a succession of clans in a family that is above everyone else and that has the right to rule Cambodia forever, ” Sam Rainsy said in a video.

Sam Rainsy and other exiled members of the CNRP have tried to return to Cambodia on several occasions. 

The acting CNRP leader tried to return on Nov. 9, 2019 to lead nonviolent protests against Hun Sen, urging Cambodian migrant workers abroad and members of the military to join him.

However, his plan to enter Cambodia from Thailand was thwarted when he was refused permission to board a Thai Airways plane in Paris. Score of CNRP activists were arrested and jailed in the aftermath.

“The CNRP is still determined to return to Cambodia as long as there is an opening from Hun Sen, but in fact he does not dare to open up the way for Sam Rainsy and CNRP leaders to return to Cambodia as he did in the past,” said Oum Sam An, a former CNRP lawmaker.

Translated by Sok-Ry Som. Written by Nawar Nemeh.

Journalists go into hiding after threats by Myanmar’s military junta

Local reporters from two media outlets in Myanmar went into hiding after the country’s ruling military junta threatened to sue the news agencies for reporting that regime troops killed three civilians and wounded 19 others near a Buddhist pagoda in Mon state last week.

BBC Burmese and The Irrawaddy online news journal reported that military soldiers allegedly fired random shots into crowds at the Kyaiktiyo Pagoda in Mon state, one of the most famous Buddhist sites in Myanmar, on Oct. 12

The regime blamed the attack on an anti-junta People’s Defense Force (PDF) allied with the Karen National Liberation Army’s (KNLA) Brigade 1, the civilian National Unity Government (NUG) and its parliamentary wing. It said three were killed and 19 injured in the incident.

Irrawaddy and BBC reporters went into hiding after the junta issued a statement on  state-controlled Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV) at 8 p.m. on Oct. 14, threatening to take action against their news outlets for “incorrectly” reporting on the incident. 

“It is reported that The Irrawaddy and BBC Burmese news agencies, the blatant liars and the pessimist’s stooges, are going to be sued under the Electronic Communications Law, News Media Law, and the state defamation law for their accusation that the security forces randomly fired shots into crowds of pilgrims, a shameless act of violating media ethics,” the junta said in the broadcast.

A relative of a BBC Burmese reporter told RFA that all local BBC journalists, including the head of the news agency, are in hiding because of the junta’s threat.  

“He [the reporter] won’t be able to stay here anymore since the junta started threatening to sue them all,” said the relative, who declined to be named for safety reasons. “He is afraid of being arrested, so he had to run away and hide.”

The reporter’s family members also went into hiding out of fear that the junta would hold them accountable, she said.

Three civilians were killed and more than 10 others were wounded when fighting broke out at a junta inspection station at the foothill of the Kyaiktiyo Pagoda on the morning of Oct. 12, local social workers and aid groups said. 

Members of an unidentifiable armed group dressed in civilian clothes attacked the facility, which is part of the Myanmar military’s 44th Light Infantry Division in the Kin Mun Chaung village, they said.  

“At this moment, they are all in the hospital, three dead bodies included,” said one aid worker who declined to be named for safety reasons. “We cannot go near them. I heard 13 were wounded.”

More than 100 bullets and five artillery shells were fired during the battle which lasted over an hour, a local told RFA. He also said that there were casualties on both sides.

After the fighting, pro-military channels on the Telegram instant messaging service accused the PDF and KNLA of being responsible for the attack. 

RFA has not been able to independently identify or confirm which forces were involved in the incident and was unable to reach for comment the leaders of the Karen National Union (KNU), the KNLA’s political wing, in Kyaikto township.

Devotees pray before a huge rock covered with layers of gold at the  Kyaiktiyo Pagoda on Mt. Kyaiktiyo, a popular Buddhist pilgrimage site and tourist attraction in southeastern Myanmar's Mon state, in a file photo. Credit: AFP
Devotees pray before a huge rock covered with layers of gold at the Kyaiktiyo Pagoda on Mt. Kyaiktiyo, a popular Buddhist pilgrimage site and tourist attraction in southeastern Myanmar’s Mon state, in a file photo. Credit: AFP

‘Threats have worsened’

In a public letter to senior officials of BBC Burmese, the junta’s Ministry of Information said their Oct. 12 report on the shootings intentionally attempted to defame the military by alleging that security forces shot civilians. 

A senior official at BBC World News headquarters in London said the head office was “aware of the Burmese authorities’ concerns, and we have been in contact with them to discuss this.”

The Irrawaddy reported on Monday that an Oct. 14 statement from the KNU said the deaths were caused by random fire from junta forces responding to a PDF attack, citing testimony from a resident of the village where the fighting occurred. 

Ye Ni, an editor at The Irrawaddy, said his news outlet’s coverage of the shooting was based on three sources.  

He said that freedom of the press has been under attack since the February 2021 coup in which the military seized power from the democratically elected government.

“Threats by the junta against the news media have worsened, and [we’re] already at the brink of total collapse with their brutal persecution of reporters and unlawful abolishment of news agencies since the coup,” he said. 

Ye Ni also questioned why the junta threatened to sue only The Irrawaddy and BBC Burmese when several news agencies also issued similar reports on the shooting. 

Kyee Myint, a high court lawyer and legal expert who lives in Myanmar, said the rule of law had disappeared under the junta.

“The junta itself are the rebels who broke the law to seize power,” he said. “These rebels kill, sue and do anything else to stay in power. It’s no surprise. Since they are on the wrong side, they try to find fault with those who stand with the righteous people against injustice.”

Myint Kyaw, former secretary of the Myanmar Press Council, told RFA that it is getting more difficult for journalists in Myanmar to do their jobs.

“In this difficult time of collecting news, to sue a news agency only because what it covers is considered untruthful is the junta’s direct threat against the media,” he said.

He also said that because The Irrawaddy is no longer based inside Myanmar, the junta’s threat would not have a serious impact on the news organizations. 

“As for BBC Burmese, this is the junta’s act to pressure the BBC to self-censor and adjust its editorial policy in favor of [the junta], Myint Kyaw said. 

The junta has abolished 15 news agencies, four book publishers and two printing presses in the more than 20 months following the coup.

Translated by Myo Min Aung for RFA Burmese. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

Tibetans in Lhasa forced to watch China’s 20th Party Congress

Chinese authorities are ordering residents of Tibet’s regional capital Lhasa to tune in to television coverage of China’s 20th Communist Party Congress, forbidding them to leave their homes until the sessions end, RFA has learned.

Monasteries and schools in Tibetan areas of western Chinese provinces have also been instructed to watch the week-long proceedings, which opened in Beijing on Sunday, Tibetan sources say.

Tibetan residents of Lhasa are now confined to their homes so they can pay close attention to speeches given by China’s President Xi Jinping and other top leaders, a source living in Tibet told RFA.

“A few days ahead of the meeting, one person from each family was allowed to go out to pick up groceries and other essentials, but now no one is allowed to leave their home,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

Buddhist monks in the Ngaba (in Chinese, Aba), Kardze (Ganzi), and Golog (Guoluo) Tibetan Autonomous Prefectures in Sichuan and Qinghai are meanwhile under orders to watch the Congress, another Tibetan source said, writing to RFA.

“All the schools in the Ngaba, Khyungchu [Hongyuan], and Dzamthang [Rangtang] region have also been instructed to watch the Party Congress meetings from the beginning,” the source said, also asking not to be named.

Also speaking to RFA, Tenzin Lekshey — spokesman for Tibet’s India-based exile government the Central Tibetan Administration — said that Beijing fears Tibetans may launch protests while Party Congress meetings are under way.

“This is why they’re being forced to stay indoors,” Lekshey said. “The Chinese government regards ‘Tibet’ as a very sensitive issue, but these tactics will never succeed until the status of Tibet is resolved.”

Formerly an independent nation, Tibet was invaded and incorporated into China by force more than 70 years ago, following which Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and thousands of his followers fled into exile in India and other countries around the world.

Beijing has accused the Dalai Lama of fomenting separatism in Tibet.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, 69, is widely expected to be endorsed by Party Congress delegates this week for a third term in office, breaking recent party norms and becoming China’s most powerful ruler since Mao Zedong.

Translated by Tenzin Dickyi for RFA Tibetan. Written in English by Richard Finney.

Shanghai police detain retired teacher who posted “Bridge Man” clips on Twitter

Ripples of political dissent continued to appear in China in the wake of the “Bridge Man” protest against ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping, who is on track to sweep aside term limits and rule for at least another five years at the ongoing party congress in Beijing.

Shanghai-based retired teacher Gu Guoping, 67, was incommunicado, believed detained, on Oct. 16, with repeated calls from RFA to his cell phone and social media accounts going unanswered.

The rights group Weiquanwang said officers from Shanghai’s Zhoujiaqiao police station under the Changning district police department detained Gu at a friend’s house after threatening to use “coercive measures.”

Police said they were planning to take both Guo and his friend to Lingang, a “ghost city” on the coast near Shanghai once touted as its answer to Silicon Valley.

China’s state security police frequently use enforced “vacations” to silence government critics during important political events like the 20th National Congress.

However, incommunicado detention can sometimes morph into “residential surveillance at a designated location (RSDL),” allowing the authorities to hold someone for up to six months with no legal representation or family visits, a practice rights groups say is linked to increased risk of torture and ill-treatment.

Gu’s wife, who declined to be named, said she hasn’t been able to reach her husband since Sunday.

“He called me back yesterday to say that he was now in Lingang,” she said. “They are sharing a room.”

“I haven’t yet received any notification of administrative or criminal detention,” she said. “I’m just waiting.”

Shanghai-based retired teacher Gu Guoping, 67, was being held incommunicado after sharing clips of last week’s Sitong Bridge protest in Beijing. Credit: Gu Guoping
Shanghai-based retired teacher Gu Guoping, 67, was being held incommunicado after sharing clips of last week’s Sitong Bridge protest in Beijing. Credit: Gu Guoping

Banned searches

Gu’s detention came after he retweeted photos and video of a rare public anti-Xi protest on the Sitong traffic overpass in Beijing’s Haidian district on the eve of the party congress.

A protester who hung two protest banners–one of which called for Xi’s removal — was seen in a video being put into a police car.

While RFA has been unable to confirm the identity of the protester independently, content posted earlier to Peng’s social media accounts was consistent with the tone of his banners, one of which read “Remove the traitor-dictator Xi Jinping!”

Video and photos of which were quickly posted to social media, only to be deleted, while keywords and accounts linked to the protest were rapidly deleted from China’s tightly controlled social media platforms, as the ruling party’s well-oiled censorship machine swung into action.

Searches for “Haidian,” the district where the banners appeared, and “hero” were all blocked by Friday, amid reports that social media users who talked about the incident were getting their accounts shut down.

Gu had reposted some of the content to his Twitter account. While Twitter is banned in China, the authorities still track and observe content posted about China, with police often seeking out account-holders in mainland China for warnings or punishment.

Gu’s wife said she has concerns over his health, with “very bad” recent scan results suggesting he has cancer, along with an existing diagnosis of diabetes.

Posters mimicking early CCP propaganda art but containing the text of Peng Lifa's bridge banner slogans have been circulating online, the U.S.-based China Digital Times reported.
Posters mimicking early CCP propaganda art but containing the text of Peng Lifa’s bridge banner slogans have been circulating online, the U.S.-based China Digital Times reported.

‘Bridge Man’

Repeated calls to the Zhoujiaqiao police station rang unanswered on Monday.

Unconfirmed social media reports have named the Sitong flyover protester, dubbed “Bridge Man,” as Peng Lifa, who uses the handle Peng Zaizhou on social media.

Peng’s social media accounts are a likely reference to an ancient essay describing the people as the water that holds up the boat of government, and might overturn it if they are unhappy with its rule.

“Peng Lifa made some very severe accusations against Xi Jinping and the Chinese central government in those slogans,” rights activist Patrick Poon, currently a visiting researcher in comparative law at Japan’s Meiji University, told RFA.

“Under Xi Jinping’s ongoing totalitarian regime, [Gu] could be held under criminal detention or even secretly detained.”

“[Under] RSDL, he could be tortured or treated inhumanely at a place where his lawyers and family can’t find him,” Poon said. “His situation is very worrying.”

“The authorities could charge him with serious crimes like incitement to subvert state power, or subversion of state power,” he said.

A number of posters mimicking early CCP propaganda art but containing the text of Peng’s slogans have been circulating online, according to the U.S.-based China Digital Times website.

Several of the posters quote the Sitong bridge banners in their entirety, calling in block red letters for “Food, not PCR tests. Freedom, not lockdowns. Reforms, not the Cultural Revolution. Elections not leaders.”

The slogans continued: “Dignity, not lies. Citizens, not slaves.”

Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

Manchester police probe assault of peaceful protester inside Chinese consulate

U.K. police are investigating the assault of a man who was dragged into the grounds of the Chinese Consulate in the city and beaten by a group of unidentified men amid an altercation about a ripped protest banner at the weekend.

“We’re investigating the assault of a man following a protest outside the Chinese Consulate in Manchester yesterday,” Greater Manchester Police said in a statement on Monday.

The man, in his 30s, was sent to hospital after suffering “several physical injuries” in the assault, which came after around 30-40 people gathered in a peaceful protest outside the consulate on the first day of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s 20th National Congress in Beijing.

The beating came after verbal altercations between protesters and a man believed to be a member of consulate staff, who kicked and ripped a banner placed on the sidewalk by protesters outside the consulate gates, according to a video clip of the incident posted to Telegram and Twitter.

“Congratulations, my ass. Wipe out the CCP!” the banner read.

The man who damaged the banner was later seen on the video inside the grounds of the consulate.

The injured protester, who gave only the pseudonym Bob, said he was held to the ground and beaten by four people for more than a minute before a policeman dragged him away from his attackers.

“Otherwise, I could have been beaten to death, with people forced to watch and police unable to save me if the gates had been closed,” Bob said.

“My current injuries are mainly on my head and back, with scratches to my face, eyes and neck, and some bruising and scrapes on my back,” he said. “I was afraid at the time … but if I were too scared I wouldn’t come out to demonstrate in the first place.”

Bob said the officer who eventually saved him admitted he wasn’t supposed to go inside the gates at all.

‘Appalling violence’

Police said they already had patrols in the area, as the demonstration had been planned in advance.

“Shortly before 4.00 p.m. a small group of men came out of the building and a man was dragged into the Consulate grounds and assaulted,” the police statement said.

“Due to our fears for the safety of the man, officers intervened and removed the victim from the Consulate grounds.”

Officers were seen on the video moving in past the gates and dragging the man away from his assailants.

“Detectives from our Major Incident Team are investigating the incident and we are liaising with national policing and diplomatic partners,” the police said.

U.K.-based rights group Hong Kong Watch condemned the “appalling violence perpetrated by individuals who are reportedly officials from the Chinese Consulate-General in Manchester.”

The newly elected chair of the House of Commons foreign affairs committee, Alicia Kearns, called on the government to summon the Chinese ambassador over the incident.

“The CCP will not import their beating of protesters and denial of free speech to British streets,” Kearns said via her Twitter account.

“If any official has beaten protesters, they must be expelled or prosecuted,” she said.

Benedict Rogers, co-founder and chief executive of Hong Kong Watch, said the incident was “outrageous.”

“If the footage and reports are accurate, it would appear that Chinese Consulate officials assaulted peaceful protesters and, even more seriously, dragged them into the Consulate to beat them up,” Rogers said in an Oct. 17 statement on the group’s website.

“They must not be allowed to get away with this, they cannot be allowed to hide behind diplomatic immunity, and they must be investigated and, if found guilty by an investigation, they should either face criminal prosecution or immediate expulsion,” he said.

“We cannot allow the CCP regime’s thuggery, brutality, inhumanity and criminality on the streets of Britain.”

Staff from the Chinese consulate walking toward a poster featuring images of China's President Xi Jinping to remove it during a demonstration by pro-democracy protesters outside the consulate in Manchester, United Kingdom, Oct. 16, 2022. Credit: Matthew Leung/The Chaser News/AFP
Staff from the Chinese consulate walking toward a poster featuring images of China’s President Xi Jinping to remove it during a demonstration by pro-democracy protesters outside the consulate in Manchester, United Kingdom, Oct. 16, 2022. Credit: Matthew Leung/The Chaser News/AFP

‘Complex’ enquiries

No arrests have yet been made in what police described as “complex” enquiries involving working with “diplomatic partners.”

Anyone with video footage or information about the incident is being asked to share it at the following web address: https://mipp.police.uk/operation/06GMP22A58-PO1

“It is clear what began as a peaceful protest unexpectedly escalated and our officers acted professionally in response to a hostile and dynamic situation to help the victim and ensure he didn’t come to any further harm,” assistant chief constable Rob Potts said.

“I can assure the public that all viable avenues will be explored to bring to justice anyone we believe is culpable for the scenes we saw outside the Chinese Consulate on Sunday,” he said.

“This investigation will take time but we are supporting the man who was subjected to this assault.”

China’s foreign ministry said it hadn’t heard about the incident when contacted for comment by RFA.

“I am not aware of the relevant situation you mentioned,” an official said in an emailed response. “The Chinese embassy and consulates in the UK always abide by the laws of the countries where they are stationed.”

Unconfirmed reports from the scene identified the grey-haired man in a hat who damaged the protest banners as Chinese consul general for Manchester Zheng Xiyuan.

A visual comparison by RFA’s Cantonese Service showed that earlier photos of Zheng did somewhat resemble the man.

A written request to the Chinese consulate in Manchester for comment had met with no reply by the time of writing.

Protest organizers — named by CNN as a Hong Kong pro-democracy group called Hong Kong Indigenous Defence Force — told RFA at the time that the victim of the attack was one of the demonstration organizers.

Eye on Hong Kong overseas offices

Hong Kong activists raised concerns in late 2021 over security threats to Hong Kong activists in the U.K., which has offered a path to citizenship for some three million Hong Kongers fleeing a crackdown on dissent under draconian security legislation imposed by the CCP in the wake of the 2019 protest movement.

Concerns had already been growing over the CCP’s United Front operations in the country after messages were found on WeChat in December calling on Chinese patriots “of the kind who know how to fight” to target Hong Kong protesters.

Anyone attacking a group of Hong Kong protesters was told to “first go for anyone holding a camera, a black flag, or a microphone or PA, and go hard at these key points from the start,” according to screenshots of the messages posted to Twitter at the time.

Exiled former pro-democracy lawmaker Nathan Law has accused the CCP of running clandestine “United Front” operations in the U.K., while China’s nationalistic tabloid the Global Times, which has close ties to CCP mouthpiece the People’s Daily, said the Hong Kong group had been acting “provocatively” at the scene, while confirming that the fight was started by members of the Federation of UK Fujian Chinese, a United Front-linked organization.

The 2019 protest movement in Hong Kong exacerbated pre-existing fault-lines between mainland Chinese and Hong Kongers in the U.K., with earlier migrants and Chinese community groups often strongly supportive of Beijing’s line on Hong Kong.

The Manchester attack came as Hong Kong Watch warned in a report that Hong Kong’s economic and trade representative offices in foreign countries were no longer fit for purpose.

Report author and surveillance researcher Anouk Wear said the offices have been transformed in recent years into purveyors of CCP propaganda, rather than representing the interests of Hong Kongers, and called for a reexamination of their status.

“The National Security Law in Hong Kong has not only destroyed basic rights and freedoms, but has supplanted the autonomy of the [Hong Kong government] and their representatives abroad, the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices,” Wear said.

“Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices are used today to exert [Beijing’s] influence abroad in cultural and business spheres to justify the ongoing crackdown and imposition of the national security law,” she said.

“Host countries should review the status of [offices], remove their privileges, and where appropriate close these offices, as it becomes increasingly hard to justify the People’s Republic of China having two de facto embassies in one country,” Wear said.

 Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

Triller Introduces the Metaverz: Your All-Access Pass to Global Entertainment

Triller partners with Epik and the entertainment industry’s biggest artists to create the world’s first integrated virtual music, gaming, sports and live events platform

Metaverz

Metaverz

Metaverz

Metaverz

Metaverz

Metaverz

Metaverz

Metaverz

Metaverz

 

Link to a video preview of the Metaverz here.

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 17, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Triller, the leading AI-powered creator platform, is taking its creator-first approach to the metaverse. Today, Triller announces their latest venture: the Metaverz, a first-of-its-kind virtual integrated digital, technology, media, and entertainment platform. Inside the Metaverz, fans can attend a virtual concert featuring their favorite artists or make their way past the velvet rope of a virtual nightclub and venture into a VIP room to interact with celebrities, influencers and creators.

“We are extremely excited to debut the Metaverz and open up direct access to creators from all corners of the world,” said Mahi de Silva, CEO of Triller. “We are committed to expanding offerings for our users, creators, and businesses, and entering the metaverse strategically positions Triller at the forefront of several compelling trends including Web3 and decentralization. We are now on the frontline of the future of creator content – from NFT-backed collectibles and memorabilia to virtual concerts to gaming and shopping, the Metaverz ecosystem will be groundbreaking.”

The Metaverz has north of $100 million in metaverse investment value today across various digital properties and assets, and is expected to grow rapidly. Triller’s Metaverz will operate at the intersection of music, sports, gaming, and live events. Users can engage with Triller’s record-breaking live sporting and music events that attract millions of viewers around the globe– including Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, Triller Fight Club, Verzuz and many others – but also are able to engage with artists and other fans in a unique setting that brings the world to them.

“When your favorite sporting event is a continent away, you can still be there with front row seats, sharing unforgettable moments with other fans,” said Christopher Taurosa, Head of Metaverz. “If you want pursue a new digital shopping experience, you can shop at one of the stores in our virtual shopping malls, or, if gaming is something you enjoy, you can play along with your friends and interact with the community in so many new engaging ways only available in the Metaverz.”

The Metaverz is the latest example of how Triller is a powerful toolbox for the creators, by the creators. Triller allows them to monetize their connections like never before, with engagements as high as 73% versus 1% on other platforms, such as Instagram.

“Triller’s Metaverz underscores its commitment to empower creators everywhere to maximize their relationships with their fans, while developing powerful tools to connect brands and creators,” said de Silva. “Triller is breaking the mold of the closed garden networks, and the Metaverz will continue to pave the way for Triller as the leading creator platform, facilitating commerce and maximizing audience reach.”

Triller’s open garden network eliminates the large tech companies as intermediaries and puts the power back in the hands of the creators and their users, allowing them to connect directly with the brands that want to work with them.

“Our core focus is to eliminate the barrier of entry to the metaverse. Our platform allows everyone to seamlessly connect and interact with their favorite creators, attend events they normally wouldn’t be able to, and interact directly with people from around the world,” said Taurosa. “The Metaverz allows the limits of time and distance to be instantaneously erased and gives both sides of the creator economy the necessary space to create and delight with content and experiences – you can be whoever you want to be and go wherever you want to go.”

Another unique feature of the Metaverz experience is Triller’s partnership with Epik, a leading global platform for AR/VR and gaming experiences that produces premium digital experiences for more than one billion gamers worldwide. Triller and Epik will launch multiple games within the Metaverz and announce future partnerships with some of the world’s leading gaming companies. Thanks to this creative collaboration, there will be Metaverz drops where gamers can purchase upgrades with artifacts and gear and additional packs like trading cards consisting of artifacts or avatars for their gaming characters.

To celebrate the launch of the Metaverz, Triller will host an event featuring DJ and electronic artist Sam Feldt performing live from the Netherlands during one of electronic music’s largest gatherings in the world, the Amsterdam Dance Event, on October 22. The event is free to everyone who enters through the Metaverz.

“I am very excited to partner with Triller on the launch of the Metaverz,” said Victor David, Co-Founder and CEO of Epik. “This is a perfect marriage combining Triller’s social network, creator platform, celebrities, events and content with our technical expertise, video game network and membership programs. By working together, we are one step closer to mass adoption and the result will be a rapid expansion into all things metaverse.”

Triller, which works with hundreds of the world’s largest brands and enables over 750 million social interactions a month, is seizing the opportunity to continue to monetize these transactions.

“We put a lot of thought, time, and capital towards building what we believe to be the most advanced live event metaverse platform available today,” said de Silva. “We have been working closely with all of our partners, influencers, celebrities and companies to make sure this launch isn’t just words but truly the launch of a new world.”

During 2022 alone, Triller has expanded its presence in the world of combat sports with acquisitions of Bare Knuckle Fight Club and Pillow Fight Championship. In the content creator space, Triller also acquired Fangage, a platform to maximize creator monetization, furthering Triller’s commitment to putting content creators first.

For more information and to be one of the first to learn about Metaverz updates, visit www.metaverz.com or follow @triller on social media @triller for Metaverz.com teasers, drop dates, celebrity endorsements, concerts, sports events, shopping moments, and enhanced gaming experiences. 

About Triller 

Triller is the AI-powered open garden technology platform for creators. Pairing music culture with sports, fashion, entertainment, and influencers through a 360-degree view of content and technology, Triller encourages its influencers to post the content created on the app across different social media platforms and uses proprietary AI technology to push and track their content virally to affiliated and non-affiliated sites and networks, enabling them to reach millions of additional users. Triller additionally owns VERZUZ, the live-stream music platform; combat sports brands Triller Fight Club, Triad Combat and BKFC; Amplify.ai, a leading customer engagement platform; FITE.tv, a premier global PPV, AVOD, and SVOD streaming service; Thuzio, a leader in B2B premium influencer events and experiences; Fangage, a platform for creators to engage fans and monetize content and Julius, a platform for brands and agencies to harness creators for social engagement and social commerce.

About Epik
With more than 300 video game clients, Epik is the leading global licensing agency putting brands into video games to produce premium digital items and experiences for over one billion gamers worldwide with the largest digital ecosystem with hundreds of the world’s most popular entertainment brands. Epik is widely considered to be the blockchain industry leader producing collaborations for premium licensed digital collectables, NFTs and exclusive experiences powered by an interoperable proprietary cross-chain technology. Epik was the first and only NFT company to do any deals with AAA gaming companies for NFTs. Clients include ViacomCBS, Warner Music, Garena, Tencent and Universal.

For more information visit trillerinc.com

A video accompanying this announcement is available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8c298d40-460c-4106-93da-47163adc8d8c

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4647350d-4a3c-4d07-ae77-e23af1f3f661

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d68244a5-0d43-4a89-9b33-18d37e91c27f

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/85ee27b7-f5e4-44a0-ab08-72764f562a1f

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3317e63d-2082-4299-98c5-6486ba44990d

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/49cfff09-8501-48e7-ad99-6b7618793b30

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0f932ca7-3d31-4802-aa89-6bf36e40c15c

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4cb54bcc-1b80-4406-8b7d-ce4d69915c2a

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d73715c1-f9c4-4aa9-9d2e-90a77553e826

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c1b91169-93d0-4e6c-84cc-27b8def9336f

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/64701d57-9828-483b-9fea-fcc9300b0fb0

Contact:
Triller PR/Edendale Strategies
Curtis Vogel
Press@triller.co