06 April 2022

The government of Cambodia has pushed back the implementation of its planned National Internet Gateway (NIG), which was due to launch in February.

Speaking to Nikkei Asia, Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPTC) spokesman So Visothy said that the gateway’s launch had been delayed “due to the disruption caused by the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.”

It was due to go live February 16.

The NIG is a controversial move by the Cambodian authorities that will see all domestic and international internet traffic routed through a single state-controlled point. The government claims that the NIG will facilitate national revenue collection as well as strengthen national security. However, critics argue that it will in practice allow authorities to silence dissent and political opposition by affording it greater powers of surveillance and censorship.

It has also been reported that the Asia Internet Coalition (AIC) has claimed that the NIG represented a threat to freedom of expression and user privacy in Cambodia, arguing that it could also be used to block citizens’ rights to internet access.