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| Cambodian Minister of Information: No censorship on the Internet |
| By Duong Sokha | | | 05-03-2009 |
Cambodian Minister of Information, Khieu Kanharith reacted officially to the publication of articles by “foreign language media” alleging that the Cambodian government is trying to control audiovisual content on the Internet with a draft law. On Thursday March 5th, in front of journalists convened for a press conference on this topic, he said that he considered it “impossible” to implement such measures.
“Everyday, two hundred million pages are published on the Internet. The Ministry of Information is therefore unable to control that work. But we are currently working on a draft law on broadcasting services used via electronic systems aimed to define the procedure for creating radio stations and their broadcasting capacities,” insisted the Minister and spokesperson for the Cambodian government.
Khieu Kanharith stressed that the government had never sought to restrict access to some websites: when the website of the British environmental organisation Global Witness was blocked, it resulted not from an intervention of the authorities, but – according to him – to that of a private internet service provider, Angkor Net, who had decided on its own initiative to prevent its users from accessing it.
“Even the Reahu blog which presents pictures of [bare-breasted] Apsaras was not shut down by the government,” he added.
“This is not a restriction on the freedom of the media. It was never in the intention of the government and the Ministry of Information to control online audiovisual contents,” the Minister argued. He also claimed that the government supported press freedom and welcomed the fact that more and more Cambodians knew how to “use the Internet and the Khmer Unicode font [which enables to view Khmer script].”
Besides, a draft law on the Internet or “Cyberlaw” – aimed to ensure the safety of online commercial transactions – is being prepared at the Ministry of Commerce, Khieu Kanharith recalled.
Following a debate with the representatives of 18 associations of journalists in Cambodia, the Minister of Information raised another important topic: the restrictions on the allocation of press cards. From now on, the Ministry of Information will only give out 8 press cards to each newspaper, whether it is “big” or “small”. The restrictive measure was adopted during the meeting on Thursday March 5th by the majority of the representatives of journalist associations present, through a simple vote by a show of hands. It was justified by the fact that “some reporters” allegedly use their professional card inappropriately “in order to extort money.”
In December 2004, the Ministry of Information had issued a “notice” stating that only newspapers with a circulation of more than 10,000 were entitled to receive 8 press cards. “Small” newspapers were officially to receive only four. The decision had then provoked heated reactions from journalist associations, who considered it discriminated against more modest publications.
According to the Minister, the new restriction will not prevent journalists deprived of the precious press card to do their work, as the editors in chief can still provide their provincial correspondents with a card specific to their own institution.
A few days before his public intervention, Cambodian Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith had given details, on the Ka-set forum, on the government's intentions regarding the regulation of the Internet. To read his comment and the discussion started with other readers, click here .
Also on Ka-set
 - Internet and audiovisual content about to be subject to regulations in Cambodia (05-01-2009)
- Cloggers: young Cambodian voices find their own way on the Web (02-03-2009)
- Chak Sopheap and “clogging”: “in the digital age, freedom of speech should be guaranteed” (02-03-2009)
- Freedom of Press in Cambodia: just a myth? (05-05-2008)
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