DPA
Phnom Penh - A human rights group on Wednesday condemned the apparent blocking of several websites critical of the Cambodian government, saying the move marked 'a significant milestone in the march toward a more oppressive media environment.'
Naly Pilorge, the director of the LICADHO rights group, said the denials by internet service providers that they were doing the government's bidding were 'not fooling anyone.'
The providers 'can play with words all they want, but at the end of the day, this still amounts to censorship,' she said.
The government has repeatedly said it has not ordered the providers to block access to websites, including KI-Media, a news aggregator and comment site that strongly favours the political opposition and is often critical of the ruling party.
But several websites critical of the government have gone offline in recent weeks. Service providers have officially denied blocking the sites or being asked to do so by the government.
However, this week, one provider carried a message stating that access to KI-Media had been blocked 'as ordered by the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications of Cambodia.'
The Phnom Penh Post newspaper on Wednesday quoted So Khun, the Minister of Post and Telecommunications, again denying the government had issued any order to block KI-Media.
But the paper carried minutes of a February 10 meeting that showed So Khun had asked mobile phone operators to help block traffic to some websites.
'[So Khun] made a request to all operators to cooperate in curbing some websites that affect Cambodian morality and tradition and the government through using the internet,' the newspaper said, quoting the minutes.
Late last year, a senior official told Radio Free Asia that the government would shut down KI-Media by the end of the year. That statement came days after the website published articles that were critical of him and other members of the government.
KI-Media is a controversial and at times vitriolic site, listing opposition politicians as 'heroes' and a number of ruling party members, including Prime Minister Hun Sen, as 'traitors.'
The censorship row comes as the UN special envoy for human rights, Surya Subedi, started his fourth trip to Cambodia this week.
Official figures showed Cambodia had nearly 175,000 internet subscribers at the end of 2010, a rapid increase from 30,000 the previous year.
5 comments:
yes you make a right move rainsy, a litlte late but stile positive move. those who curse Hun sen those curse come back to you and to your family, smart peole they never blindly believe 100 prcent in anythings, good that you are out now, guy like you neither too good nor too bad, you are worst zero to anythings. and we are khmer don't have such blind extremise like you. goo to tiolet and dump yourhead in, becouse how that you value yourself tobe shite heads, yourhead full of anger who could live with you you have yourself enemy do not blame Mr rainsy, shit heads KI
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011021646833/National-news/tangled-web-revealed.html
Why KI have never publish article from Cambodia Daily?
10:25PM
It's your head that needs bleaches since it's full of youn's shit. Get it done, traitor.
The more Hun Sen,CPP
blocked KI Media news,the more this
dictator got hurt.
Today Feb.16 2011,
Libyan people are
protesting against
M.Gaddafi dictator
in Libya for 40 years.
Hun Sen,your time is
up now.
you blocked the Websites,but you can
not block Khmer people hearts and
souls.
Khmer people get out
and protest now!
Five countries now are protesting and
getting freedom soon.
If they could do,so
can Khmer people.
Stand up!Rise up!
Hun Sen,you are comparing Khmer people to dogs,you
are dog too.
Maybe,you are not
Khmer,you are Vietnamese.
One of blogger is not just against
Viet,but against Thai too because both of them are hungry to eat Khmer
alive and want to wipe out of the world.
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