Curtailing Free Expression, Opinion and Information Online in Southeast Asia used to combat information “insulting, illegally attacking and destroying the honor of the government”, and that it would be opened up for public consultation.539 However, no consultation in fact took place. In September and October 2015, a second draft was leaked and circulated.540 The drafts contained numerous problematic provisions, highlighted in an open letter by non-governmental organization Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR), which referred to the first unofficial draft of the Cybercrime Law.541 First, the draft, under article 28, included vague and overbroad provisions which would prohibit any content deemed to “hinder the sovereignty and integrity of the Kingdom of Cambodia”, “incite or instigate the general population that could cause one or many to generate anarchism”, “(damage) the moral and cultural values of the society”, “generate insecurity, instability, and political cohesiveness”, “undermined the integrity of any governmental agencies”, or which amounted to “manipulation, defamation, and slanders”.542 Secondly, the draft established, under Chapter II, the creation of a National Anti-Cybercrime Committee (‘NACC’), very similar to the NCSC under Thailand’s Cybersecurity Act, which was not an independent review mechanism to oversee implementation of the law. The NACC would be led by the Prime Minister, and include the Deputy Prime Minister, representatives from the Ministries of Interior, Information, Posts and Telecommunications, Justice and the National Police and operate as a policy and oversight committee, with a General Secretariat that would oversee and ensure enforcement of the law.543 The second unofficial draft of the law removed the chapter dealing with the establishment of the NACC and article 28. However, it retained other problematic provisions. Article 27 in the second draft allowed for legal entities, including civil society organizations, to be dissolved for “cybercrimes” committed by individuals within the organizations, which remained broadly defined and subject to abuse.544 For example, article 13 of the second draft 539 Mech Dara, ‘Cyber Law to Protect Gov’t Honor, Ministry Says’, Cambodia Daily, 27 May 2015, Available at: https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/cyber-law-to-protect-govt-honor-ministrysays-84431/ 540 CCHR, ‘CCHR Briefing Note – February 2016 Digital Wrongs? An Overview of the Situation of Digital Rights in Cambodia’, February 2016 (‘CCHR Briefing Note, February 2016’) Available at: https://cchrcambodia.org/admin/media/analysis/analysis/english/2016_03_03_CCHR_Briefing_ Note_Digital_Wrongs_ENG.pdf 541 See also CCHR Open Letter; CCHR Briefing Note, February 2016, p11. 542 Cybercrime Law Draft V.1 (‘Cybercrime Law First Draft’), Article 28, Unofficial English translation available at: https://www.article19.org/data/files/medialibrary/37516/Draft-Law-On-CyberCrime_ Englishv1.pdf 543 Cybercrime Law First Draft, Chapter II. 544 CCHR Briefing Note, February 2016, p12. 137

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