Cambodia steps up Internet surveillance

As Burma loosens its grip on the media, Cambodia has begun to rank
high among the countries repressing internet and telephone freedom in
the name of national security, safety and social order.

It is still not comparable to China or Vietnam, but Cambodia is moving
in the wrong direction.

Cambodia steps up Internet surveillance

Aug 30, 2012
By Clothilde Le Coz
http://asiancorrespondent.com/author/clothildelecoz/

Last February, the Kingdom of Wonders adopted an "inter-ministerial
circular", according to which every Internet cafe in the country has
to set up surveillance cameras and any phone shop has to register
callers using its services.

According to an unofficial translation obtained by the Asian
Correspondent, the circular is meant to "promote protection of
national security, safety and social order for the country".

Even though nothing has been implemented thus far, the circular is a
threat to every phone and Internet user in the country.

"This is not a law. The authorities simply decided to do whatever they
want to regulate online content in the country only because it could
violate khmer culture," stated Norbert Klein, the "founding father" of
the Internet in Cambodia and now the head of the Cambodia chapter of
the Internet Society.

To him, the circular is a "means of intimidation for Internet users
more than a means to protect their safety ".

In 1990, Norbert Klein connected Cambodia to the web at the back of
what is today an always-full restaurant in the heart of Phnom Penh,
where NGO workers and the expat population mix.

At that time, he wanted to help one of his colleague to complete an
online fellowship.

With a Colombian email program and a Singaporian modem it took them
weeks to get connected and finally read and receive emails.

Moreover, since the connection was asking for stable and steady
supply, the electricity was generated by a Vietnamese truck battery
stationed outside the house.

At that time, never Klein would never have imagined that the Internet
in Cambodia could deal with censorship.

After all, the only censor they faced in 1990 was the price: $5 per
minute of connection.

But then came human rights defenders like the Venerable Loun Sovath
using online tools to advocate for a cause, scandals arose when the
behaviors created by the Internet attempted to cult and religion and
the feared Jasmine Revolution started in neighbouring countries.

As of today, Cambodia has a bit more than 3% of its population online
with one of the quickest rates of growth in the region since it is
more than twice the number registered in 2011.

These are some of the reasons behind the Internet crackdown, which is
nothing but a simple agreement that the government can claim at any
moment and that consulted no elected member.

According to the inter-Ministerial circular signed by the Deputy Prime
Minister and the Minister of Post and Telecommunications, "past
experiences […] have shown that criminals and offenders always used
telecommunications services such as mobile phones, fixed phones, VoIP
and Internet as a means to commit terrorism, trans-boundary crimes,
robberies, kidnapping, murders, drug trafficking, human trafficking,
economic offenses, illegal installment of and illegal corporation of
all forms of telecommunications service, broadcasting of obscene
pictures and debauchery, which affect national customs, traditions and
social good moral values."

For these reasons, "all locations serving telephone and Internet
services shall be equipped with closed circuit television camera and
shall store footage data of users for at least 3 months.

Telephone service corporation owners along public roads shall [also]
record National Identity Cards of any subscriber".

As of today, there are more than 19 million sim card holders in Cambodia.

And it is still very difficult to get an ID card for Cambodian nationals.

For the Cambodian Center for Independent Media, which organizes "good
governance" forums in the country, the first obstacle to possess a
national id card is the price.

There is no fixed economic value to it and it can vary from $2.5 to $50.

According to the Ministry of Interior there are 9,27866 Cambodian
holding ID cards.

What does this circular mean for the almost ten million Cambodians
with sim cards but no ID ?

The will to control telecommunications is not new

This February circular is not the first attempt to control the use of
telecommunications.

However, it shows once again that the Ministry of Information is
excluded from the decision and seems to be less relevant when it comes
to regulation.

In 2010, the same Ministry of Post and Telecommunications attempted to
get the monopoly over the Internet cable industry in the country.

There are about 30 internet service providers in the country and 10
phone operators, which causes a loss of profit to the state-owned
services.

To solve this, the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications attempted
to direct all international internet traffic through Telecom Cambodia,
which would have charged other operators a transmission fee.

However this time, because the ministry of information went publicly
against it, it had to be abandoned.

Moreover, it has only been five years since the use of the
peer-to-peer software Skype has been authorized.

Even if it was possible to connect to it, it was still illegal for the
Ministry of Post and Telecommunications was loosing money.

This sounds like a false argument since the people using Skype were
the ones who could not afford a phone call.

There was a Cambodian version of Skype but its lack of popularity
among the high ranking society and its difficulty to be used made the
government give it in.

For most of human rights defenders, Internet remains a free space
where sensitive topics can be discussed.

For Chak Sopheap, online activist and contributor to the network
Global Voices online, Internet is a "digital democracy", which should
be put in place in reality, outside of a computer screen.

Internet activists in Cambodia are being more effective to advocate
for themselves and denounce human rights violations.

For example, when Loun Sovath records them, he get a double answer;
the international community takes an interest while the Cambodian
authorities arrest him. "Internet users are the ones that the
government fears the most", continues Klein.

This is also confirmed by Ou Virak, from the Cambodia Center for Human
Rights (CCHR), according to whom "activists use more the Internet
during protests for example. They can advocate for themselves online,
especially through Facebook. Before the Internet became popular, media
were the target of the government. Today, activists are".

This circular is not only limited to online and mobile content and
usage but also to radio stations since "any radio communication wave
system corporation shall require permission from the Ministry of Post
and Telecommunications".

The radio's mission is mainly defined as a "public service".

Therefore, the decision maker should be an institution and not a
private corporation.

This could therefore apply to any independent media trying to set up
as a private company to own airtime and a frequency.