merged opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) as a tool to challenge the CPP-dominated media and to promote the party’s platform in that election. This led to a historic result for the opposition CNRP, which came within a few seats of winning an unprecedented majority. Online networking also facilitated unprecedented anti-government protests following the election, as the opposition alleged electoral fraud. These protests merged with enormous garment worker demonstrations. This resulted in some of the biggest anti-government protests Cambodia has ever seen, which were organised and popularised primarily online. The year-long protests – based on accusations of electoral fraud, which allegedly denied the CNRP an outright victory – were violently suppressed in January 2014, resulting in numerous deaths and one enforced disappearance after security forces opened fire on demonstrators and passers-by.7 Since then, there has been a string of arrests, charges and convictions resulting from critical posts written on Facebook. For instance, political activists and ordinary people have been convicted for incitement, defamation and similar speech-related criminal offences. It is in this deteriorating climate for freedom of expression that Kem Ley, a much-loved political commentator known for his criticism of the ruling CPP, was murdered in July 2016. Observers have pointed to a potential political motivation for the assassination, while local and international organisations have slammed the ineffective investigation into the alleged perpetrators.8 Several individuals who have dared to publicly link the assassination to the ruling party through Facebook posts have been prosecuted for defamation and related offences. The criminalisation of individuals who speak out on social media is likely to increase as the legal framework tightens around the freedom of expression and the 2018 election draws closer. The space for freedom of expression was already not up to international standards, but recent legislative developments such as the Law on Telecommunications adopted in 2015 have acted to further restrict this space. The situation is likely to deteriorate even further if the draft Cybercrime Law currently under consideration is passed. These legislative 7 8 Freedom House. (2014). Freedom on the Net 2014. https:// freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/FOTN_2014_Full_Report_ compressedv2_0.pdf Human Rights Watch and others. (2017, 7 July). Joint Letter on Investigation Into Killing of Kem Ley: Request for Cambodian Government to Create a Commission of Inquiry. Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/07/07/ joint-letter-investigation-killing-kem-ley developments have been accompanied by an increase in the numbers of arbitrary judicial actions taken against individuals for expressing themselves online. Moreover, with a pivotal national election coming in July 2018, the RGC is multiplying its attempts to extend control over individuals with respect to the exercise of their freedom of expression online. At the beginning of August 2017, the National Police announced they were monitoring Facebook to detect and prevent “rebel movements” of “the enemy”.9 Under such surveillance, it is easily conceivable that people feel ever less comfortable freely expressing themselves online, leading to self-censorship out of fear of the government’s reprisals.10 Methodology Cambodian laws, policies, reports and other official documents were the primary data sources for this report. Expert analysis of the content of these documents, through a desk review process, was used to assess the degree to which legal guarantees are in place to ensure the freedom of expression online. The documents were primarily located from Cambodia’s Royal Gazette – a weekly government-issued publication, which is supposed to contain all new primary and secondary laws. An initial review of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia (the Constitution), Criminal Code, Civil Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and Code of Civil Procedure was added to by consulting Cambodian legal experts regarding the identification of other legislation which impacts upon freedom of expression online. Finally, case studies were selected by drawing upon an existing database of relevant case law, which is maintained by a Cambodian human rights organisation. Lay of the legal land Legal foundations and fundamental laws and freedoms Domestic law Constitution of Cambodia The Constitution explicitly protects the right to freedom of expression and related rights. However, it should be noted that these protections fail to meet international standards because they 9 Handley, E. (2017, 1 August). Government’s ‘chilling effect’ on free speech. The Phnom Penh Post. www.phnompenhpost.com/ national/governments-chilling-effect-free-speech 10 Vida, T. (2015, 8 September). Monitoring the Internet. The Phnom Penh Post. www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ monitoring-Internet 34 / Unshackling Expression