Excerpts from "New Media and the Promotion of Human Rights in Cambodia" by CCHR
News Blogs, especially KI-Media, are also well known among Cambodian internet users, and are effective platforms to spread information that is generally not disseminated through government controlled or aligned media outlets.
News Blogs gather national and international press articles, radio features, video clips, statements from NGOs and government agencies, and publish the information on one website. They are an important source for people to find up-to-date news, but the blogs rarely generate their own news articles. The blogs provide a critical survey of developments in Cambodia, while giving readers the ability to comment and discuss the posts.
There are a number of News Blogs that gather news on Cambodia, and translate articles from the Khmer language press into English. However, many are very critical of the government, and recently, News Blogs have been the target of government censorship (see Chapter 5). The most well-known News Blog in Cambodia is KI-Media, which originally started as an email list and then evolved into a blog in 2005. The authors are “dedicated to publishing sensitive information about Cambodia” and are heavily critical of the RGC and ruling CPP. The range of articles and their presentation is biased at times, particularly in support of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (“SRP”), and the website has been criticized by other Cambodian journalists. It has also been accused of offering space for comments which are “un-civil statements, full of personal attacks, using horrendous profanity, combined with ethnic and racial slurs.” Readers seem to take little offence at the style however; with the KI-Media being one of the most visited websites in the country.
In addition, it is encouraging that, despite efforts by the government to frustrate New Blogs like KI-media and Khmerization (see Chapter 5), more and more News Blogs seem to be coming into existence as the internet is becoming more widespread in Cambodia. For example, Sahrika – which is the Khmer name for the talking Myna Bird – provides an overview of media coverage of land and housing rights issues in Cambodia.
5.2 Prosecutions for use of New Media
Given the RGC’s track record for punishing expressions of opinion through traditional media it is likely that, at some point, the RGC will seek to prosecute individuals for expressing views online. It remains unclear under which provisions of which laws such prosecutions would likely be filed. Under the Penal Code, the offense of disinformation has been removed and it is expressly stated that defamation involving the “media” should be dealt with under the civil provisions under the Press Law. However, as the Press Law only regulates print media, and applies to neither broadcast nor online journalism, there is confusion as to whether “new media” falls under the scope of the Press Law.
