Cambodia Net plan can ‘silence opposition’

PHNOM PENH: Cambodia is powering up its new National Internet Gateway, a move activists say will allow the government to further silence the country’s embattled opposition voices.

United Nations rights experts warned the gateway, which would funnel all web traffic through a state-controlled entry point from tomorrow, would have a “devastating” effect on privacy and free speech.

It was the latest move by authoritarian ruler Hun Sen to clamp down on dissent in a country that had arrested dozens for online posts in recent years, critics said.

Hip-hop artist Kea Sokun, whose lyrics about injustice

and corruption have struck a chord with Cambodia’s disaffected youth, was among those jailed.

As his music clocked up millions of views on YouTube, plainclothes police came knocking in September 2020.

He was arrested and convicted of incitement, spending a year behind bars, and now fears the new gateway will lead to more people suffering the same fate.

“They arrested me to intimidate others,” he said.

Last year, the son of a jailed opposition figure was sentenced to eight months in jail for Telegram messages deemed insulting to the government.

Internet gateways are the points on a network where a country connects to the worldwide web.

Once fully operational, Cambodia’s new National Internet Gateway will channel all traffic through a single entry point controlled by the government.

Internet service providers will be ordered to block websites and connections that adversely affect “national revenue, safety, social order, morality, culture, traditions and customs”.