The Cambodian Association for the Protection of Journalists released a statement Monday criticising government plans to draft legislation that would extend existing libel, defamation and ethics rules currently governing print media to other media platforms, including the internet.

"We worry that this law would be used as a tool to control and clamp down on bloggers who harshly criticise the government ... and we appeal for the government to reconsider its current plan," the group's president, Um Sarin, is quoted as saying in the statement. The group said it would encourage NGOs and foreign donors to pressure the government against passing the law.