Thayer Consultancy Background Briefing:

ABN # 65 648 097 123

Cambodia to Pass Laws
Criminalizing ‘Fake News’
Carlyle A. Thayer
January 28, 2019

We are working this week on a report about anti-fake news laws around Asia. We
noticed that Cambodia is considering one or several laws and request your analysis of
the following issues.
Q1. Why do officials in Cambodia want this law?
ANSWER: Cambodian government officials support laws criminalizing ‘fake news’ for
two reasons. First, Cambodian officials want to restrict and repress all media reporting
that is critical of their stewardship. These officials do not share or believe in the values
of liberal democracy, including freedom of speech. They believe that ‘fake news’
undermines the government, causes social unrest, and is a genuine threat to national
security. A ten-point regulation issued in June 2018, for example, declared that an
inter-ministerial working group would monitor and control “all dissemination of
information… [deemed] to threaten the defense and security of the nation, relations
with other countries, the economy, public order, and discriminates against the
country’s customs and traditions.”
Second, Cambodian officials, having repressed the print media and radio, want to
address the current main source of criticism, the use of social media by “opposition
politicians and opportunists.” Social media includes websites and digital equipment
such as smart phones linked to the internet.
Prime Minister Hun Sen and his regime have long sought to restrict and repress the
independent media in Cambodia. Donald Trump’s campaign attacks on the
mainstream media in the United States, provided a convenient cover for the
Cambodian government to adopt laws restricting the media.
Hun Sen picked up on President Donald Trump’s attack on the mainstream media as
‘fake news’ and ‘an enemy of the people.’ In February 2017, Hun Sen posted on
Facebook, ‘Donald Trump understands that they [the press] are an anarchic group.’ In
January 2018, Hun Sen was quoted by Voice of America as saying, ‘I think Donald
Trump is right for creating an award for fake news, which was announced several days
ago. Even in the US, there are such kinds of journalists until the president created the
fake news awards for such media – fakes, cheats and liars.’
Specifically, in the lead up to the 2018 national elections, Hun Sen succeeded in
banning the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party and closing down the print
media and radio stations that were critical of his government. Many opposition
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officials fled abroad. They had no other means than the internet and social media to
get their message across to the Cambodian people. Cambodian government ministers
have singled out Facebook primarily, but You Tube and Instagram as well.
In June 2018, the Cambodian government issued a ten-point Prakas (or regulation)
directing three ministries – Ministry of Information, Ministry of Post and
Telecommunications, and Ministry of Interior – to set up an inter-ministerial working
group to monitor social media websites and online publishing platforms on
Cambodia’s internet networks. Internet Service Providers (ISP) are now required to
filter or block unregistered social media accounts and sites. The ministries are required
to take action against unregistered – and now illegal – ISP.
After the Cambodian People’s Party swept the polls in mid-2018, Hun Sen has doubled
down on his effort to control the internet in order to stop what he considers ‘fake
news.’
Cambodia was also influenced by efforts to control ‘fake news’ by regional
governments such as Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines. In addition,
ministers of information in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have taken a
regional approach to controlling the internet. On November 13, 2017, the Chairman’s
Statement of the 31st ASEAN Summit in Manila noted:
123. We commended the important role of AMRI [ASEAN Ministers
Responsible for Information] in continuously raising ASEAN awareness,
identity and communicating to the people the benefits and opportunities of
ASEAN integration, including its efforts in countering the spread of fake news
in the region. We looked forward to the development of the ASEAN
Communication Master Plan 2 (ACMP-2) and AMRI’s cooperation with relevant
stakeholders to counter misinformation and communicating the right
information on all forms of media. We also applauded the information sector’s
initiatives on promoting media and information literacy (MIL) to equip young
people with the right values and skills to use information responsibly
[emphasis added].
In May 2018, ASEAN Ministers Responsible for Information jointly endorsed the
Framework and Joint Declaration to Minimise the Harmful Effect of Fake News. At a
press conference following the 14th Conference on ASEAN Ministers Responsible for
Information, the ministers noted that tackling ‘fake news’ is a growing global challenge
and that ASEAN member states must collaborate and exchange best practices in
combatting ‘fake news.’
The rise of cybercrime as a security threat has also provided an impetus to control
‘fake news.’ This involves the use of technology to identify websites and users deemed
a threat to national security.
Two laws are currently being drafted, one on access to information, the other on cyber
security. These will supplement the 1995 Law on the Press.
Q2. What false information cases, if any, led up to the law?
ANSWER: As early as March 2018, Kan Channmeta, Secretary of State of the Ministry
of Posts and Telecommunications, called ‘fake news’ a crime and announced his
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ministry would work with other ministries ‘to create a law and procedures to punish
those who produced and spread fake news.’
I do not think there have been any specific cases of ‘fake news’ that precipitated
drafting legislation to criminalize ‘fake news’. Rather it has been the drum beat of
criticism against the Hun Sen regime by the opposition since the Supreme Court
outlawed the CNRP and the CNRP’s public call for Cambodians to boycott the July 29,
2018 election.
Examples of ‘fake news’ reports in the media mentioned by Government officials
include not only Cambodian domestic items but stories that affected Cambodia’s
foreign relations:
• HIV-infected Thai workers deliberately contaminated food exported to
Cambodia,
• a senior commander in the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces supported the
CNRP,
• a clash between villagers and local authorities in Kratie over a land dispute
resulted in fatalities,
• senior Vietnamese Politburo members at a closed-door meeting expressed
displeasure at Hun Sen’s crackdown on the opposition,
• posting a story claiming Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut told the public to fill
their car gas/petrol tanks with water if diesel prices were too high,
• China would use the deep-water port of Koh Kong as a naval base,
• mistreatment and firing of Cambodian workers in Thailand, and
• Hun Sen had died.
Q3. What penalties would you expect for violators, and how frequent might
convictions be?
ANSWER: The Cambodian government’s Prakas (regulation) issued in June 2018
prescribed punishment of up to two years in jail and fines of up to U.S. $1,000 for
persons found guilty of creating or distributing false information.
Immediately after the passage of the two draft laws government officials are llkely to
go on a blitz to prosecute alleged purveyors of ‘fake news.’p

Suggested citation: Carlyle A. Thayer, “Cambodia to Pass Laws Criminalizing Fake

News,” Thayer Consultancy Background Brief, January 28, 2019. All background briefs
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Thayer Consultancy provides political analysis of current regional security issues and
other research support to selected clients. Thayer Consultancy was officially
registered as a small business in Australia in 2002.
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