Censorship of KI-Media, Khmerization and Sacrava by the Phnom Penh dictatorial regime

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.

4.2.2 News Blogs

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.

To date, there have been no prosecutions for the expression of views online. The 2010 arrest and conviction of Seng Kunnaka, an employee with the UN Food Program in Phnom Penh who had printed articles from KI-Media and shared them with a handful of colleagues, indicates however that the RGC is ready to punish those who use the internet to share views contrary to those of the RGC. Kunnaka was arrested on 17 December 2010 by the Russei Keo district police and accused of sharing with co-workers leaflets he had printed from KI-Media. Barely two days later, on a Sunday, a day on which the courts in Cambodia are closed, Kunnaka was found guilty by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court of incitement to commit a felony under article 495 of the Penal Code, and was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment and fined one million riel (approximately US$246).

While the case of Seng Kunnaka remains unique in Cambodia, it seems likely that, in time, as the RGC becomes more familiar with the technology associated with new media, cases of intimidation and prosecution will increase as a way of trying to stop such media being used to criticize the RGC. In relation to Facebook, the fact that it is an externally owned and operated website means that it may prove difficult to control. Moreover, tracking down Facebook users is also difficult, as many profile owners go to great lengths to conceal their identities: “This lack of control means that Facebook has become something of an equal playing field for politicians from opposite ends of the spectrum”. Mu Sochua has said that Facebook “gives people more room to express their opinions and to receive more diverse views”. As a result, she says, she is “convinced that it will be a challenge to the government to control opposition”. However, Derek Phatry Pan, co-founder of www.Khmerican.com, has said that he thinks “the future will see the trend [of comments being made online] strengthen leading to wider forms and efforts to censor independent press and online dissenters”.

5.3 Censorship of New Media

For many years, internet and mobile phone use in Cambodia was largely unrestricted. Indeed, despite its poor freedom of expression record, the RGC has not sought to censor online content and space to any degree commensurate to several of its neighbors in South-East Asia – particularly Vietnam, Laos and, more recently, Thailand. However, more recently, the RGC has made several attempts to restrict the use of new media, in particularly the internet by asking ISPs to block specific websites. We set out some of the more high profile examples below.

In 2007, the elections supervision NGO COMFREL sent SMS messages to people throughout the country reminding them to vote. In response, the RGC blocked all SMS service in Cambodia for the day of the elections (see Section 4.1).

Towards the end of January 2009 access to Khmer-American artist Koke Lor’s website was blocked by the RGC. His controversial artwork depicting semi-naked Apsaras – female Cambodian folk figures – so angered the Ministry of Women’s Affairs that Cambodian access to his website was blocked. So Khun, Minister of Post and Telecommunications, confirmed at the time that he had sent a letter to the relevant ISPs, asking them to block access to the website, but claimed that he did not know whether his letter had been acted upon.

A week later, access to the website of the UK-based corruption watchdog Global Witness was also blocked for some internet users following the organization’s release of a scathing report – Country for Sale – which explored Cambodia’s oil and mining industries. Representatives of the ISP AngkorNet confirmed that Global Witness’s website was blocked to AngkorNet customers, but did not provide further details as to the reasons for the restricted access. On 3 February 2010, The Phnom Penh Post reported plans by the RGC’s “Government Morality Committee” to begin holding bi-monthly meetings to review websites which feature racy images of Cambodian women, and to consider blocking access to those deemed to be in conflict with national values. Ros Sorakha, an undersecretary of state at the MOPT, stated that the increased monitoring of online content was necessary in light of the rapid spread of information and communications technology nationwide.

On 16 December 2010, the Chairman of the Cambodia-Vietnam Joint Border Commission, Var Kim Hong, told RFA that the RGC would shut down the online news blog KI-Media by 31 December 2010.

On 19 January 2011, BlogSpot sites in Cambodia were blocked following an order from the Ministry of Interior (“MOI”) to all Cambodian ISPs. For weeks, users of EZECOM, one of the growing number of ISPs in Cambodia, complained that they were unable to access a number of sites, including KI-Media. On the day of the outage, customer service representatives at EZECOM told several clients that the sites had been blocked at the request of the MOI. EZECOM management later denied in writing that it had received a directive from the RGC. Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith also denied involvement. Over the following days, service was restored by all ISPs except Metfone.

In early February 2011, Cambodia experienced a new wave of outages, affecting KI-Media, Khmerization, and the blog of Cambodian political cartoonist Sacrava, as well as five other websites. The ISPs affected included Online, WiCam, Metfone and EZECOM. On 15 February 2011, The Phnom Penh Post reported that when WiCam customers attempted to access KI-Media, they saw a message stating that the site had been “blocked as ordered by the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications of Cambodia”. This announcement was deleted shortly after, and replaced by a neutral disclaimer. An unnamed WiCam employee told the newspaper that the ministry had ordered the company to block KI-Media because it “impacts the government”.

So Khun

The Phnom Penh Post reported on 15 February 2011 that So Khun, Minister of Post and Telecommunications, presided over a meeting on 10 February 2011 during which he asked mobile phone operators to “co-operate” in blocking certain internet sites “that affect Khmer morality and tradition and the government”. On 16 February 2011, The Phnom Penh Post revealed a leaked e-mail from a senior official at the MOPT congratulating ten ISPs, including EZECOM, for blocking access to a list of websites, including BlogSpot sites, KI-Media, Khmerization and Sacrava. The e-mail also included published extracts from leaked minutes of the meeting in which the Minister for the MOPT criticized certain ISPs for not having taken steps to block access to critical sites. The e-mail, which was electronically signed by Sieng Sithy, Deputy Director of the MOPT’s policy regulation, addressed service providers WiCam, Telesurf and Hello as follows: “We found that you [have] not yet taken [any] action, so please kindly take immediate action … Again and again, In case of not well cooperation is your own responsibility [sic].” The block was confirmed by ISPs such as Cellcard, Metfone and EZECOM.

Sieng Sithy and wife

The move to block these websites shows a recent extension of the RGC’s censorship of the internet, namely a concerted effort on the part of the RGC to control online content in much the same manner as it controls traditional media. It also suggests that the absence of online restrictions thus far was not so much a sign of a newfound respect on the part of the RGC for the right to freedom of expression, but rather due to a lack of technical knowhow.

6. Recommendations

Blogs represent the most sizeable aspect of social and political activity online in the Kingdom, as young Cambodians use them with great creativity and enthusiasm to express themselves and to discuss issues online. 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. Social media – particularly websites such as Facebook and Twitter – are also quickly becoming an integral communication tool, not only for NGOs and activists as a means to promote human rights and other ideas, but also for government officials to communicate and share information with the Cambodian people.