UN officials urge Cambodia to scrap plan to keep tabs on all internet traffic

[geovalin]

 

Activists in the country say that the new law will destroy freedom of expression.

 

United Nations human rights officials called on Cambodia to drop plans to create a “National Internet Gateway” that would allow the government to monitor all internet traffic in the country.

 

On Feb. 16, 2021, Prime Minister Hun Sen signed an order to launch a National Internet Gateway — similar to China’s complex network of censorship tools known as the Great Firewall — to regulate all online traffic in the interest of “protecting national security and maintaining social order.”

 

The Gateway will provide authorities with “measures to prevent and disconnect all network connections that affect national income, security, social order, morality, culture, traditions and customs,” the decree said.

 

Internet service providers will be given a year to connect to the gateway. Those that do not could lose their operating licenses or have their bank accounts frozen. Users will be required to provide their true identities, according to the directive.

 

The new law is scheduled to go into effect on Feb. 16 and will have “a serious negative impact on internet freedom, human rights defenders and civil society in the country,” the U.N. said in a statement Tuesday.

 

“As the world has evolved to depend on internet access as a primary channel for communication, information sharing and networking, the body which controls the internet effectively controls much of society.”

 

Once in effect, Cambodia will be able to see the websites that people visit. Authorities will also be able to block certain websites and turn off internet access for individuals, the U.N. statement said.

 

The new law will have disastrous effect on press freedom, Nop Vy, the executive director of the Cambodian Journalists Alliance, told RFA’s Khmer Service.

 

“When the language of sub-decree is vague, authorities can accuse reporters of making content that violates ethics and culture so they can shut down websites without first obtaining approval from the court,” Nop Vy said.

 

Youth activists are concerned that the decree will allow the government to spy on their private communications and prevent them from using the internet as a tool for activism, activist Svay Samnang told RFA. 

 

“The sub-decree gives unlimited power to authorities so activists will become authorities’ prime targets,” he said.

The government must first demonstrate that it cannot use this law to infringe upon personal freedoms, social researcher Sek Socheat told RFA. 

 

“Can the sub-decree be used for other purposes? Will it affect our freedom of expression that is protected by the constitution?” he said. “We don’t know yet whether the government can violate our freedom with this law. We are waiting to see but I hope that the government won’t unconstitutionally restrict people freedom.”

 

The local Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights NGO told RFA that the government has a poor track record on using internet evidence to charge people with crimes, and that this goes against international human rights agreements the country has signed.

 

“Past arrests of social media users have had an impact on human rights, especially freedom of expression,” said Am Sam Ath, the group’s deputy director for human rights.

 

“[The Gateway] will restrict people’s freedom of expression through fear. Journalists will have to increasingly self-censor to post news on Facebook. People will not dare to post messages in social media or anywhere on the Internet," he said.

 

The Gateway will give the government the ability to target people more efficiently, Out Latin, the project coordinator for the Cambodian Youth Network Association, told RFA.

 

“There are environmental activists and politicians, who have been threatened and imprisoned because they made statements critical of the government's inaction,” he said. “I think the establishment of this internet gateway will give more power to the government that could further affect freedom of expression.”

 

RFA attempted to contact Ministry of Post and Telecommunications spokesman Meas Bo for comment but could not reach him. 

The New York Times in a recent report drew comparisons to China’s Great Firewall, which allows Beijing to regulate and censor the internet within its borders.

 

“The authorities are emboldened by China as an example of an authoritarian state that gives Cambodia political cover, new technology and financial resources,” Sophal Ear, a dean at the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University, told the Times.

 

The report is misleading, government spokesperson Phay Siphan told RFA. The purpose of the National Internet Gateway is to earn raise revenue, fight terrorism and maintain internet security, he said, not to restrict or suppress freedom of expression.

 

Speaking to RFA Jan. 31, Phay Siphan justified the government's recent crackdown on online activists.

“They incite violence, discrimination and spread insults. Should we allow that to happen?” he said.

 

Translated by Sok Ry Sum and Samean Yun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

https://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/internet-02012022164544.html

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