An internet user reads political commentary on a website in Chamkarmon district. Scott Howes
Cyber bill raises concerns
Cambodia's highly secretive draft law on cybercrime, which has
never been released publicly, seeks to criminalise online content that
“slanders or undermines” government agencies, ministries or officials or
affects “political cohesiveness”, a copy obtained by the Post reveals.
The law, which was first announced in May 2012 to the trepidation of
many netizens, is supposed to be passed this mandate. But the government
has thus far ignored calls from civil society groups to release a draft
for consultation.
Article 28 of the 16-page draft law, labelled “draft V.1” and
developed by the Cybercrime Law Formulation Working Group of the Council
of Ministers, stipulates offences related to online content and
publications.
It proposes criminalising content that is deemed to “hinder the
sovereignty and integrity” of Cambodia; publications that “incite or
instigate the general population that could cause one or many to
generate anarchism”; publications that “generate insecurity,
instability, and [affect] political cohesiveness”; and any publication
deemed “to be non-factual which slanders or [undermines] the integrity
of any government agencies [or] ministries”.
All these offences are punishable with one to three years in prison
and a fine of between two million and six million riel ($500 to $1,500),
the draft law stipulates.
More than four million Cambodians were using the internet, including
on mobile telephones, as of December 2013, according to government data,
an increase from 2.7 million in late 2012.
“The Draft Cybercrime Law has been formulated behind closed doors for
far too long. With a version of the Draft Law released, the authorities
can no longer deflect the legitimate concerns of the national and
international human rights community,” Thomas Hughes, Article 19’s
executive director, said in a statement.
The provisions in Article 28 of the draft law, which also address
“publications deemed damaging to the moral and cultural values of
society”, need to be entirely removed, because they are “extremely vague
and open to abuse”, the group said.
Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan yesterday said he would
not comment on an “unofficial document” in order to avoid “manipulating
anything”.
“Once they pass it, after it’s been reviewed in the Council of
Ministers and passed by the cabinet and then sent down to the National
Assembly, then we can talk,” he said. “You remember this is an illegal
document. So [we] don’t touch it until it comes up.… It is government
property [and] it’s not official yet.… It’s a problem if people leaked
this to you. It’s not supposed to be leaked to anyone.”
Siphan added, however, that a number of offences listed in the draft
cyber law were based on existing offences in the criminal code.
When the law was announced in May 2012, Council of Ministers
spokesman Ek Tha said it would be designed to “prevent any ill-willed
people or bad-mood people from spreading false information [and]
groundless information”.
Minister for Information Khieu Kanharith has stated several times,
including in February, that despite social media being “complex” for the
government to deal with, there were no plans to restrict access.
He did not respond to requests for comment yesterday.
Chem Sangva, director of the inspection department at the Ministry of
Posts and Telecommunications, referred questions to Minister Prak
Sokhon, who could not be reached.
The provisions in the draft law were “extremely worrying” for freedom
of expression, Cambodian Center for Human Rights executive director
Chak Sopheap said yesterday.
“It’s not hard to imagine how terms such as ‘political cohesiveness’
may be used to silence anyone who disagrees with the government and
ruling party, and stand directly against the constitutional guarantees
of free speech,” she said.
The draft law, if passed, would see the establishment of a National
Anti-Cybercrime Committee, with senior officials from its general
secretariat given judicial police powers to investigate and make
arrests.
Given that the committee will predominantly be made up of
high-ranking government officials, “the lack of adequate definitions and
preciseness in the law is especially concerning”, Sopheap said.
Aside from online content, other offences listed in the draft law
include child pornography, illegal access to systems – which encompasses
hacking, data theft and espionage – and computer-related fraud.
The past year has seen a surge in cyberattacks in the Kingdom, with
Anonymous Cambodia, the local chapter of the global “hacktivist”
collective, defacing several government websites following the July
election.
According to Article 19, some penalties under the draft cyber law are harsher than their criminal code equivalents.
“Offences conducted online should not carry heavier penalties than
that of crimes conducted offline,” the group said in its statement.
It also notes that prosecutors are “granted extremely broad powers to
order the preservation of computer data or traffic data” from internet
service providers under the draft law, which is “very worrying given the
intrusive nature of such measures and that prosecutors lack the
independence necessary for the proper balancing of the various interests
involved”.
Included in its provision for content deemed damaging to moral and
cultural values, the draft cyber law states that any “drawings,
pictorials, or pixilation that [are] deemed to slander or defame human
beings or commoners of the state performing activities unbecoming, with
animals of any species” are punishable with imprisonment and heavy
fines.
“[Members of the government] are angry with [people who insult them
online],” lawyer Sok Sam Oeun, head of the Cambodian Defenders Project,
said.
“In our society, they don’t like mocking; you can see in the Press
Law it’s also the same. We cannot use cartoons for example, so now,
mostly people from outside [the country] do that.”
A number of overseas-based pro-opposition blogs and websites that
often contain commentary ridiculing senior Cambodian People’s Party
figures and lambasting political influence from Vietnam in derogatory
terms have been occasionally targeted by the government in recent years.
Perhaps in line with this, the draft law stipulates clearly that its
scope includes offences committed outside Cambodia that affect
individuals within Cambodia and the “interests” of the Kingdom.
Prominent blogger and social media consultant Kounila Keo yesterday
said the “sinister ambiguity of provisions” in the draft law relating to
online content would “create a chilling effect for freedom of speech
and expression” if they remain when the law passes.
“If there is any truth to the provisions that [I have seen], we are
clearly heading on the path towards increasing government control over
thought and speech,” she said.
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