Experts fear Cambodia’s cybercrime law could help combat

The Cambodian government is moving ahead with a cybercrime law that experts say could further restrict free speech amid an ongoing crackdown on dissent.

The cybercrime draft is the third controversial internet law introduced by authorities in the past year, as the government of new Prime Minister Hun Mane seeks greater oversight of internet activity.

VOA obtained the latest draft of the cybercrime law in English and Khmer, which is marked “confidential” and contains 55 articles. It lists various offenses punishable by fines and imprisonment, including defamation, using “insulting, derogatory or rude language” and sharing “false information” that could harm Cambodia’s public order and “traditional culture”.

The law would also allow authorities to collect and record real-time internet traffic data of people under criminal investigation and would designate online material that “describes any behavior or activity intended to stimulate sexual desire” as pornographic.

Digital rights and legal experts who reviewed the law told VOA that the law’s vague language, broad categories of actionable speech and lack of protections for citizens fall short of international standards and instead give governments more tools to jail dissent. activists, members of the opposition, women and women. LGBTQ+ people.

Earlier drafts of the law, which prompted similar criticism, have not been leaked since 2020 and 2021, although the law has been drafted since 2016. Authorities hope to enact the law by the end of this year.

“This cybercrime bill gives the government greater power to go after people who express dissent,” Kian Vesteinsson, senior technology research analyst at human rights group Freedom House, told VOA.

“These vague provisions on defamation, insult and false information are easily abused, and we are aware that Cambodian authorities have adopted similarly vague criminal provisions in other contexts,” Westenson said.

Cambodian law already treats defamation as a criminal offence, but the cybercrime draft would impose penalties of up to six months in prison, plus fines of up to $5,000. The “false information” provision – defined as sharing information that “intentionally harms national defence, national security, relations with other countries, the economy, public order, or causes discrimination or affects traditional culture” – carries a prison sentence of three to five years and a fine Fines up to $25,000.

Daron Tan, Assistant International Legal Counsel of the International Commission of Jurists, told VOA that the defamatory and disinformation articles were inconsistent with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Cambodia is a party, and that the UN Human Rights Committee was “very clear , imprisonment is never an appropriate punishment for defamation.”

“This is a step in the wrong direction,” Tan said. “We are very concerned that this will expand the laws that the government can use against critics.”

Chea Pov, deputy chief of the Cambodian National Police and former head of the anti-cybercrime department of the Ministry of Interior, who oversaw the drafting process, told VOA that the law “does not restrict your rights” and claimed that the U.S. companies that reviewed the law “did not raise concerns.” .”

The government said Google, Meta and Amazon were involved in drafting the law but did not respond to a request for comment.

“If there’s evidence for what you’re saying, there’s no problem,” Poff said. “But if there is no evidence, [you] Defamation of others, this is also provided for in the criminal law… We do not consider this to be a restriction. ”

The law also makes it illegal to use technology to display, trade, produce or distribute pornographic content, or to promote “products or services mixed with pornographic content” online. Pornography is defined as “any act or activity depicting genitalia or depicting sexual organs or any part of the human body, animal or object…or other similar pornographic work intended to stimulate sexual desire or cause sexual arousal”.

Experts say this broad category may disproportionately target women and LGBTQ+ people.

Cambodian authorities regularly reprimand or arrest women who dress “too provocatively”, sing pornographic songs or use suggestive remarks on social media. In 2020, an online clothing and cosmetics seller was given a six-month suspended sentence for posting provocative photos; in another incident, a female police officer was forced to publicly apologize after she posted a photo of herself breastfeeding.

Naly Pilorge, outreach director for Cambodian human rights group Licadho, told VOA that the draft law “could lead to more violations of women’s rights in the country.”

“This vague definition of ‘pornography’ poses a serious threat to any woman whose online activities the government deems may ’cause sexual arousal,'” Pilorgo said. “The draft law does not recognize any legitimate artistic or educational purpose for depicting or describing sexual organs, which poses another threat to freedom of expression.”

In March, authorities said they hosted civil society organizations to review the draft. Deputy Police Commissioner Bove said they planned to complete the drafting process and submit the law to parliament for adoption by the end of the year.

Soeung Saroeun, executive director of the Cambodian NGO Forum, told VOA that “there was no consultation on every article” at the recent meeting.

“NGO representatives were not able to analyze and present their opinions,” Saloun said, echoing concerns about its content. “how [possible]? We need to debate this. ”

The cybercrime law has resurfaced as the government works to finalize two more draft internet laws, one on cybersecurity and another on personal data protection. Experts criticized the draft plans as expanding police powers to seize computer systems and leaving citizen data vulnerable to hacking and surveillance.

Authorities are also trying to create a national internet gateway that would require traffic to pass through central government servers, but the status of the project has been unclear since early 2022 when the government said it faced delays.