The Cambodian government on Tuesday delayed plans to introduce its national internet gateway, which UN experts have branded as “repressive” and could cause “a serious negative impact” on the country’s internet freedom, citing potential disruptions to online traffic.
The allegations against the implementation of the national internet gateway were “unfounded,” the department said, adding that it has “no provisions allegedly authorizing the collection of consumers’ data and restricting freedom of expression.”
“The government respects the individuals’ right to privacy and freedom of expression and protects personal data, all of which enshrined in law,” it stated.
The department claimed that the gateway aims to facilitate and manage internet connections, strengthen national security and tax collection, maintain social order, and protect national culture.
The national internet gateway serves as “an effective tool to enhance national revenue collection” and helps to “thwart cybercrimes,” such as illegal use of a cross-border network, illicit online gambling, and internet scams, it said.
“The government will prepare a separate bill on personal data protection as soon as the draft law on cybersecurity is concluded,” it added.
“To legally justify such a sweeping infringement on personal freedoms requires compliance with strict tests of legality, necessity, and proportionality, including for matters of national security or public morality,” the experts said.
“It is exceedingly hard to imagine how any such legal justification may apply in this case,” they said, while urging the government to halt implementation of the data surveillance legislation.
According to civil society groups, harassment of dissidents, censorship, and media blackouts have become “customary” in Cambodia, which prompted people to use online platforms to voice political dissent.
Last year, a 16-year-old autistic Cambodian teenager was arrested for a message he wrote on the Telegram messaging app defending his imprisoned father, a senior member of the now-outlawed Cambodia National Rescue Party.