Berliner Boersenzeitung - Cambodia steps up surveillance with new internet gateway

EUR -
AED 3.846712
AFN 71.807227
ALL 98.181287
AMD 408.741135
ANG 1.896218
AOA 956.69975
ARS 1051.474539
AUD 1.607186
AWG 1.887741
AZN 1.775375
BAM 1.955978
BBD 2.124294
BDT 125.731453
BGN 1.955856
BHD 0.394743
BIF 3107.942455
BMD 1.04729
BND 1.413856
BOB 7.269732
BRL 6.089055
BSD 1.052096
BTN 88.893295
BWP 14.363651
BYN 3.443214
BYR 20526.891799
BZD 2.120793
CAD 1.463222
CDF 3005.723629
CHF 0.928386
CLF 0.036958
CLP 1019.788135
CNY 7.589394
CNH 7.597547
COP 4599.290984
CRC 534.848719
CUC 1.04729
CUP 27.753196
CVE 110.276098
CZK 25.351963
DJF 187.357066
DKK 7.458487
DOP 63.395775
DZD 139.906489
EGP 52.086951
ERN 15.709356
ETB 131.113521
FJD 2.380279
FKP 0.826644
GBP 0.831994
GEL 2.853909
GGP 0.826644
GHS 16.728684
GIP 0.826644
GMD 74.357674
GNF 9068.912683
GTQ 8.121817
GYD 220.122153
HKD 8.149857
HNL 26.587803
HRK 7.470594
HTG 138.135221
HUF 411.236405
IDR 16667.626683
ILS 3.890307
IMP 0.826644
INR 88.493105
IQD 1378.345295
IRR 44096.162128
ISK 146.10796
JEP 0.826644
JMD 167.0924
JOD 0.742635
JPY 161.750335
KES 135.624579
KGS 90.590336
KHR 4243.467575
KMF 491.859767
KPW 942.560961
KRW 1466.588842
KWD 0.322189
KYD 0.876792
KZT 521.765001
LAK 23046.099274
LBP 94221.08262
LKR 306.117884
LRD 189.911833
LSL 19.037816
LTL 3.092376
LVL 0.633496
LYD 5.139468
MAD 10.522459
MDL 19.158745
MGA 4926.566365
MKD 61.541781
MMK 3401.55836
MNT 3558.692716
MOP 8.434989
MRU 41.843211
MUR 48.597817
MVR 16.180409
MWK 1824.409737
MXN 21.393631
MYR 4.680378
MZN 66.941933
NAD 19.037907
NGN 1771.051806
NIO 38.714451
NOK 11.587179
NPR 142.228993
NZD 1.793139
OMR 0.403204
PAB 1.052096
PEN 3.996464
PGK 4.235426
PHP 61.749814
PKR 292.44392
PLN 4.343462
PYG 8257.752201
QAR 3.835886
RON 4.976827
RSD 116.996977
RUB 106.090014
RWF 1445.666196
SAR 3.932066
SBD 8.750667
SCR 14.264572
SDG 629.944061
SEK 11.585257
SGD 1.409323
SHP 0.826644
SLE 23.653039
SLL 21961.160959
SOS 601.280607
SRD 37.079312
STD 21676.796766
SVC 9.20597
SYP 2631.348395
SZL 19.04619
THB 36.403629
TJS 11.205281
TMT 3.675989
TND 3.328535
TOP 2.452859
TRY 36.16514
TTD 7.141753
TWD 34.098201
TZS 2777.790119
UAH 43.438094
UGX 3887.391222
USD 1.04729
UYU 44.83494
UZS 13526.232108
VES 48.457274
VND 26622.121915
VUV 124.336421
WST 2.923606
XAF 656.032418
XAG 0.033805
XAU 0.000389
XCD 2.830355
XDR 0.802592
XOF 656.016757
XPF 119.331742
YER 261.732278
ZAR 18.938124
ZMK 9426.870262
ZMW 29.012643
ZWL 337.227081
  • RBGPF

    59.6900

    59.69

    +100%

  • SCS

    -0.0300

    13.04

    -0.23%

  • RELX

    0.6500

    45.76

    +1.42%

  • CMSC

    0.1200

    24.64

    +0.49%

  • NGG

    -0.1700

    63.1

    -0.27%

  • RYCEF

    0.1800

    6.79

    +2.65%

  • BTI

    -0.1000

    36.98

    -0.27%

  • AZN

    1.0600

    64.26

    +1.65%

  • RIO

    0.1800

    62.57

    +0.29%

  • GSK

    0.3500

    33.7

    +1.04%

  • JRI

    0.0000

    13.23

    0%

  • BCC

    2.9500

    140.36

    +2.1%

  • BCE

    -0.3200

    26.68

    -1.2%

  • CMSD

    0.1850

    24.445

    +0.76%

  • VOD

    -0.1000

    8.84

    -1.13%

  • BP

    0.4400

    29.52

    +1.49%

Cambodia steps up surveillance with new internet gateway
Cambodia steps up surveillance with new internet gateway

Cambodia steps up surveillance with new internet gateway

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.

Text size:

UN rights experts warn the gateway, which will funnel all web traffic through a state-controlled entry point from February 16, will have a "devastating" effect on privacy and free speech.

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

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.

"They kept asking who was backing me?" Kea Sokun told AFP.

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.

"It will be difficult to freely express opinions," he said.

"They arrested me in order to intimidate others."

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

- Clampdown on dissent -

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".

UN rights experts warned earlier this month that the sweeping new powers will further shrink what is left of the space for dissent in Cambodia, where Hun Sen has buttressed his 37-year rule by steadily rolling back democratic freedoms.

The Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) says the new gateway will give the former Khmer Rouge cadre yet more ways to silence opposing voices.

In 2021, at least 39 Cambodians were arrested, jailed or had arrest warrants issued against them for online posts that fell foul of government censors, according to the CCHR.

Elections are expected next year, and the CCHR says the completion of the gateway now could allow the government to block dissenting views online in the run-up to polls.

Cybersecurity expert Matt Warren, from Australia's RMIT University, said there could be attempts to silence high-profile opposition figures living in exile from weighing into the domestic political debate ahead of the 2023 polls.

"Will Cambodians outside the country be able to take part in the social dialogue during the election?" Warren said.

Thailand's then-ruling junta mulled introducing a single internet gateway in 2015 but backed down in the face of opposition from business.

Aside from the privacy and rights concerns, industry figures warn that funneling all traffic through a single point leaves the country highly vulnerable to being cut off -- either due to a technical fault or a cyber attack.

- 'Balkanisation' -

Government spokesman Phay Siphan insisted the internet gateway is needed to crack down on cyber-crime, maintain national security and collect revenue.

Cambodians needed to understand that freedom of "expression comes with responsibilities" and that "insulting or manipulating information can affect national security or individuals' reputations," he said.

But the new gateway appears to be taking Cambodia down a path beaten by China, which maintains even more sophisticated digital tools to monitor and censor the internet for its citizens, keeping the online world behind a "Great Firewall" and blocking major Western platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

"It's the Balkanisation of the internet. You've got the internet in China, you've got the Russian internet, you've got the internet in Saudi Arabia, where they are isolated and monitored," Warren told AFP.

"It's not just about censorship, it's also about control."

The Cambodian government's biggest fear, Warren said, is that its people could take inspiration from anti-coup campaigners in Myanmar, who used social media platforms to organise mass protests against the junta.

As the gateway's completion day looms, many Cambodians are turning to virtual private networks (VPNs) to skirt online censorship.

Top10VPN, a Britain-based digital security advocacy group, said there had been a 56 percent surge in demand for VPN accounts in Cambodia in December.

So far, there are no reports of authorities cracking down on VPN use.

"However, wherever there are long-term government restrictions on internet access, VPN bans are sure to follow," head researcher Simon Migliano told AFP.

(Y.Berger--BBZ)