Communications policy and administration

As the Cambodian government moves forward with the creation of a law to regulate cyber-security, experts say any legislation should include clear language to prevent abuse of the law and restrictions to online freedoms.A draft of the law from July obtained by VOA Khmer says ...

The Council of Ministers on Friday signed off on a potentially sweeping draft law that would regulate the country’s telecommunications sector, which a rights group warned in May could effectively nationalize private service providers. ...

Anyone who purchased a mobile phone SIM card without providing appropriate ID can expect to see those phone numbers terminated, while any retailer selling SIM cards without collecting identification documents faces arrest, the government announced yesterday. The crackdown, which begins today, will see any retailer ...

Phnom Penh police yesterday launched a coordinated operation to seize illegal walkie-talkies from tuk-tuk and motorbike taxi drivers, in order to rid the capital of alleged “anarchy”.The campaign is the initiative of the capital’s chief and reportedly comes in response to complaints that drivers’ use ...

The Cambodia National Rescue Party reportedly raised nearly $35,000 in one day of fundraising to finance what party chief Sam Rainsy affirmed over the weekend will be an objective TV station, which will deal with issues such as border disputes, corruption and land grabs. ...

Any information that is damaging to Cambodia’s national security or public order, affects its relationship with other countries or threatens the Kingdom’s economy or finances could be withheld from the public under a draft law on access to information. ...

About 100 former members of the Dey Krahorm community returned to the site of their brutal eviction in central Phnom Penh on Saturday afternoon to mark six years since they were forced off their land, but were prevented by authorities from screening a video of ...

The opposition CNRP plans to screen the banned documentary film “Who Killed Chea Vichea?” this week to mark the 11th anniversary of the Free Trade Union (FTU) leader’s assassination in front of a newspaper stall in Phnom Penh on January 22, 2004. CNRP public affairs director ...

Cambodia sees the development of physical networks between itself and other Southeast Asian nations and China as key to boosting its economy and achieving closer regional ties, government officials said recently. Transport Minister Tram Iv Tek said Cambodia has well-developed overland roads to connect the country ...

The CNRP has selected longtime opposition financier Kun Lom Ang as chairwoman of the private company established in October to operate its new television station, party spokesman Yim Sovann said Tuesday. The Ministry of Information late last month granted Cambodian Independent Media, which was registered by ...

The government is planning to install surveillance equipment on the networks of Cambodia’s mobile phone operators and Internet service providers (ISPs), a senior Interior Ministry official said Tuesday, vindicating concerns about inspections the ministry quietly conducted on telecommunications firms in October. In October, officials from Lieutenant ...

Social media has emerged to play a crucial role in providing many Cambodians with information that could mean better governance, an expert says. Ok Serei Sopheak, a good governance specialist, told “Hello VOA” that sites like Facebook help people get information quickly and easily, and can ...

The Cambodian government has given the final nod to the main opposition party to operate a radio station and broadcast throughout the country as part of a deal reached in July, opposition leader Sam Rainsy said Wednesday. Sam Rainsy said that the party will begin ...

CNRP spokesman Yim Sovann said Thursday that a group of businessmen close to the opposition has successfully registered a company with the Ministry of Commerce that will hold the television license promised to the party. Mr. Sovann said that the CNRP received notice in the past ...

Cambodia and China’s Yunnan province signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) here on Monday on media cooperation and exchanges. The deal was inked by Buth Bovuth, chief of the Cambodian Information Ministry’s General Department of Information and Broadcasting, and Wu Jingbo, deputy chief of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China’s Yunnan Provincial Committee, with the presence of Cambodian Information Minister Khieu Kanharith and Ge Guangzhi, deputy director of Department No. 6 of the Information Office of China’s State Council. ...

More than 200 university students yesterday called on the government to publicly release the latest version of the controversial cybercrime law, amid fears it will lead to a clampdown on their currently unrestricted use of social media sites like Facebook. ...

Phnom Penh’s City Hall warned tobacco companies at a meeting yesterday to stop flouting a sub-decree that prohibits all forms of tobacco advertising, or else face closure or fines. The municipality said some companies were skirting the 2011 sub-decree by using more creative ways to sell ...

Cambodian telecommunications company EMAXX signed a contract with China’s Huawei, a global ICT solutions provider, on Wednesday in order to develop EMAXX’s 4G network in Cambodia. The contract was inked between Ai Min, chief executive officer of EMAXX, and Weng Kefeng, deputy general manager of Huawei ...

The Public Relations Department of Thailand is developing cooperation with Cambodia in exchanging news and information. ...

Television and radio stations will be barred from broadcasting advertisements for alcohol during the primetime 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. slot beginning next month, as part of the government’s effort to reduce the number of fatalities resulting from drunk driving, officials at the Ministry of ...

The Ministry of Information is planning to begin regulating the Internet in the country to prevent offensive content from being posted online, ostensibly to prevent defamation and provocations to violence, according to a ministry official. ...

The Telecommunication Regulator of Cambodia (TRC) has issued a warning to 15 companies that offer Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services for allegedly failing to pay their annual fees. In a statement published on a local media website on August 22, the TRC demanded the companies ...

Around 80 citizen journalists from around Cambodia held a meeting in Phnom Penh Wednesday, in a first-ever networking event for a new kind of reporter in the country. Professional journalists and other media professionals joined the event, sponsored by the Cambodian Center for Independent Media and ...

Private-sector representatives today are to conclude a two-day consultation forum with the government over the controversial new draft telecommunications law. The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications’ (MPT) yet-to-be-approved draft law includes provisions that grant the ministry judicial powers to indict telecom service-related operators and even everyday ...