The interior ministry holds a workshop to discuss a draft law on cybercrimes on March 21. Interior Ministry
The Ministry of Interior held a recent consultative workshop on a new draft law on information technology crimes in order to gather input from all stakeholders to ensure the legislation will be fit for purpose in the digital age.
The March 23 workshop was chaired by ministry secretary of state Bun Honn and attended by representatives of several state institutions, foreign embassies, civil society organisations and the private sector, according to a ministry statement.
Honn explained that the workshop was held to gather ideas, views and experiences in a bid to draft an effective, comprehensive law that will ensure the future use of advanced technology is well regulated. Once the draft s complete, it will be forwarded to the National Assembly for review.
“The digital revolution is now being driven by the formation of a digital government, which will serve as a pillar that encourages people to embrace digital technology with confidence. The digital government plays a key role in driving new growth, increasing state revenue and saving time, reducing environmental impacts while improving data exchange and administrative workflows,” he said.
He believes that in response to the needs of the people in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) context, the momentum of the embrace of technology and data analysis in all sectors, including education, health, economics and public administration, must be accelerated.
“Industry 4.0 also brings with it a number of challenges, including crimes related to digital security, protection of personal data, transnational crimes, the exploitation and sexual abuse of women and children, as well as various technological crimes that could threaten public order, both domestically and globally,” he said.
Sek Socheat, the CEO of the Mindset Development Organisation and an IT expert, believes it is time for Cambodia to introduce a specific cybercrime law, as the development of technology has had far-reaching effects on consumer behaviour. The Kingdom, he said, has insufficient laws and human resources to closely monitor the latest technological advances.
“We do not yet have a strong enough foundation that protects the public from cybercrime. Many people are regularly harassed by corrupt domestic or international groups who are seeking to exploit them, or create challenges for Cambodian society,” he remarked.
“The government has the most important role to play. It must make sure that this draft law clearly sets out regulations that will curb all forms of technological crime,” he added.
Socheat suggested that the government work with the international community, as well as civil society organisations and the private sector, to gather appropriate inputs
Touch Sokhak, interior ministry deputy spokesperson, explained that the new law will provide an important mechanism for preventing technological crimes. It will strengthen the code of ethics and responsibilities of technology users, as well as protecting data security.
“This law should establish a whole digital security mechanism, as well as procedures for identifying and investigating crimes. We need a clear law which defines what each crime is and what the punishment should be,” he said.
Cambodia’s Draft Information Technology Crimes Act was drafted based on the Budapest Treaty of 2001 and examines a number of other countries laws, with the support of the US embassy in Phnom Penh.
Several specialists from the US Department of Justice’s legal and computer-related criminal fields have also assisted with the draft, as well as major tech companies, including Facebook, Google and Amazon.
