Kolvath Som’s Testimony on “Great Firewall” Decree for the Rule of Law of the Commission of Inquiry for Cambodia, 10 September 2022
Taking its cue from China, and using the Chinese “Great Firewall” as a model, on February 16, 2022, Hun Sen adopted a decree establishing a National Internet Gateway (NIG) to monitor and control all Internet and social media activities in the country through a government controlled “network of blocking and censorship devices” designed to review and regulate all online communications. The decree gives government authorities power to monitor, “prevent and disconnect” all forms of Internet use and content, for the purpose of “protecting national security and maintaining social order.” Dozens of local and international human rights groups, as well as the United Nations Human Rights Committee at its February review session on Cambodia, have condemned the plan as a grave threat to free speech and privacy on the Internet, noting that the extensive online monitoring system would allow for “the collection, retention” and misuse of personal user data in a way that “fundamentally threatens the rights to privacy, freedom of expression and information.” Human Rights Watch noted that “It is no coincidence that, after shutting down critical media across the country, the Hun Sen government has now turned its attention to [controlling] online [communications], just in time for the … 2022/2023 elections.” In addition, local human rights and democracy groups have said, "The new gateway will give the former Khmer Rouge cadre yet more ways to silence opposing voices … the completion of the gateway now could allow the government to block dissenting views online in the run-up to polls.
Social media critics of the Hun Sen government have been subjected to persecution through arrest and imprisonment for some time. Among those jailed for expressing their views online, whose cases demonstrate the direction that the government’s Internet censorship efforts are likely to take under the new decree, are the following:
Mich Heang was one of the Cambodian refugees who was recently deported back to Cambodia at the request of the Hun Sen government, arrested on his arrival, and charged with “incitement to commit felony” and “insulting the king,” for his social media posts critical of the government’s restrictions on civil and political activities;
Kea Sokun, a well-known youth rapper, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for posting two songs on YouTube with lyrics that opposed “oppression” and displacement of Cambodians from their lands.
Sovann Chhay, a teenager, was arrested and jailed for posting protest messages on the Telegram platform that “insulted” government officials.
Veourn Veasna was arrested for posting a poem on Facebook critical of Hun Sen. He later fled to Thailand, and was given refugee status by the United Nations before being forcibly returned to Cambodia at the request of the Cambodian government.
Zsombor Peter, a journalist with the now closed down Cambodia Daily, was charged with the crime of “inciting social unrest” for posting news articles during the 2018 local and national elections that reported on government restrictions against political activities.
These are just a few examples of how the Hun Sen government has applied criminal sanctions on those expressing their views on social media.
The new and more comprehensive decree regulating internet use more generally, raises the level of government monitoring and censorship to new heights, mirroring the comprehensive controls that the government of China has imposed across a broad range of Internet and social media uses for many years, in order to squash dissent and prevent critical communications.
Of particular concern is the broad and very vaguely worded nature of the language of the new decree, imposing harsh criminal penalties for any Internet use or communications that the government deems a “threat” to social order and/or national security. 9At its Cambodia review session in February, the United Nations Human Rights Committee expressed particular criticism of vaguely worded statutes along these lines that give the government unfettered discretion to impose criminal penalties on any form of freedom of expression that they view as a criticism, or an indication of political opposition.