Rights experts say the internet is one of the few spaces allowing freedom of expression, including criticism of the government of prime minister HE. Photograph: Cindy Liu/Reuters

by
Rebecca Ratcliffee
Mon 14th Feb 2022

Changes coming in this week will see all online traffic pass through a gateway to preserve ‘social order’

A China-style internet gateway scheduled to be imposed in Cambodia this week would grant the government far greater powers to conduct mass surveillance, censor and control the country’s internet, rights groups have warned.

Under the changes, all online traffic must pass through a National Internet Gateway (NIG), which the government says will protect national security, help with tax collection and preserve “social order, culture and national tradition”.

Having stamped out dissent elsewhere, the government is now seeking to further expand its control over the online sphere, rights advocates have warned. “They want to have a hermetically controlled political environment where they are lord and master and anything they say goes - and anybody who objects gets sent to prison,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch.

Internet service providers were required to reroute their traffic through the gateway by this week.
The authorities have increasingly taken steps to clamp down on online expression, including by jailing individuals over posts, messages and even music. Last year, at least 35 individuals were arrested, five had arrest warrants issued against them, and 21 were convicted for online posts, according to the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights (CCHR).

Those targeted in recent years include the rapper Kea Sokun, who spent a year in prison after he was convicted of incitement in 2020 in relation to music he shared online; three activists belonging to the environmental group Mother Nature Cambodia, who had shared
information on social media about plans to march to the prime minister’s house; and Kak Sovannchhay, the teenage son of an activist and opposition politician, who spent four-and-a-half months in pre-trial detention. Sovannchhay, who is autistic and was 16 at the time, had defended his father in comments made on Telegram, and shared Facebook posts critical of the government.

The authorities have also found other ways to suppress online information, including ordering internet service providers to block certain pages, such as news sites. According to civil society groups, internet service providers have also slowed down the speed of the internet to disrupt their activities, including livestreams, while activists and media have faced localised power cuts.

“It is therefore very likely that the NIG will become another instrument for the Royal Government of Cambodia to control and monitor the flow of information in Cambodia,” said Sopheap Chak, CCHR’s executive director.

Despite the looming deadline for implementation, there is little information about how the gateway will work, said Robertson. The Cambodian government might want to give the impression that it was introducing a China-style firewall, he added, but it was not clear if it had the capacity to do so.

“If you’re putting something up on the internet that is critical of the government, who knows maybe the NIG is coming to get you?” said Robertson

fullhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/14/f ... ne-freedom

And nobody has pointed out the unfortunate acronym they've gone for? ...

If you live by choice in a country that tends to react strongly to any criticism, it is a good idea to keep opinions to yourself and not broadcast them on the internet. If you don't have a choice, like if you were born and grew up here, then you will already be aware of the rules and will just get on with surviving each day as best you can without involving any authorities. So whats the problem? Sure the algorithms in the firewall may pick up dumb stuff you search on Google or comments some mouthy fool makes on Facebook, but as always if you live a normal life and stay within the rules there is nothing to worry about. People who usually complain about invasion of privacy generally have something to hide which is why they want it to stay private.

Alex wrote: ↑Tue Feb 15, 2022 11:56 am I'll be very interested in firsthand reports from those of you currently in Cambodia, once this kicks in. Much as I finally want to visit in April, I will need a functioning internet connection.

Yes, I must try a few pings and speed tests today and in a few days to see if it slows things down much.

so far , dont need a vpn, what happens in a few days??

Just days before Cambodia’s national internet gateway is scheduled to take effect, analysts and civil society organisations say they know scarcely more about its rollout than when the decree was first signed into law last year.

The gateway is slated to route all internet traffic through a state-run portal starting as soon as 16 February. Billed by prime minister HE’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party as necessary for ‘national security,’ international watchdogs and internet freedom groups decry the project as a potential disaster for internet users.

By regulating traffic through a centralised system, the government has the potential to block websites en masse, monitor activity and even shut off access during critical moments such as elections.

“The fact that we have no idea what’s going on with the national internet gateway now a week or two before the ostensible implementation date really spells out the process issues with this law that has enormous implications for how Cambodians use the internet,” said Kian Vesteinsson, a technology and democracy research analyst at Freedom House, a political and civil liberties group.

read full story: https://southeastasiaglobe.com/cambodia ... nd-rights/

.........People who usually complain about invasion of privacy generally have something to hide which is why they want it to stay private.
.....

This is constantly brought up and its BS

just did a test on my laptop using wifi.
i have Metfone fiber to the house, pay for 18 mbs
using speedtest.net

ping 52
down 21.17
up 22.14

2nd test
ping 34
down 21.33
up 22.2

3rd
ping 20
down 21.32
up 22.09

Freightdog wrote: ↑Tue Feb 15, 2022 11:46 am

hdgh29 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 15, 2022 10:57 am
… but as always if you live a normal life and stay within the rules there is nothing to worry about. People who usually complain about invasion of privacy generally have something to hide which is why they want it to stay private.

Not entirely.
People who value privacy want it to remain private, also. We live in an age where a significant number of people want to hang their private lives out for all to see.
That’s fine; it’s their choice, and something we’ve become accustomed to.

For someone’s private life to be the fodder for any and all who want pry, that’s not fine. That’s not their choice.

It’s oppression.

Yes, Cambodia is my home, and so it’s a balancing act between values and liberty.

So, what are you hiding?