The Royal Embassy of Cambodia to the United States of America on Saturday refuted a Washington Post editorial that accused the Cambodian government of suffocating free speech and stifling political opposition with its planned National Internet Gateway.

The editorial, published on Friday, said Cambodia’s plan for the internet is “a threat not only to one nation but also to the entire globe” and said it could be used to filter and suppress information.

In its response published Friday, the Cambodian embassy in the US reiterated that the Sub-Decree on the National Internet Gateway was drafted to “increase the effectiveness of national revenue collection on the basis of fair and honest competition, and transparency between the state and operators, as well as to prevent illegal cross-border network connections, illegal online gambling, cyber threats, pornography [and] online frauds”.

It said the sub-decree did not give permission to collect user data or restrict freedom of expression.

In response to the allegation that Cambodia is “a completely authoritarian state with no opposition at all,” the embassy said it was untrue and pointed to the seven political parties which participated in municipal, provincial, city, district and commune council elections in 2019.