Internet censorship in Vietnam

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Internet censorship in Vietnam is implemented in the country, according to a 2009 report from Reporters Without Borders. [1] Vietnam regulates its citizens' Internet access using both legal and technical means. The government's efforts to regulate, monitor, and provide oversight regarding Internet use has been referred to as a "Bamboo Firewall". [2]

Contents

The OpenNet Initiative classified the level of filtering in Vietnam as pervasive in the political, as substantial in the Internet tools, and as selective in the social and conflict/security areas in 2011, [3] while Reporters Without Borders consider Vietnam an "internet enemy". [1] [4]

According to a 2006 report by the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University while the government of Vietnam claims to safeguard the country against obscene or sexually explicit content through its blocking efforts, most of its filtering efforts are aimed at blocking sites with politically or religiously sensitive materials that might undermine the Communist Party and the stability of its one-party rule. [5] Amnesty International reported many instances of Internet activists being arrested for their online activities. [6]

Background

A sign above a computer monitor in an Internet cafe reminding patrons that they are forbidden from accessing sites with "reactionary" or "depraved" content Warning in Internet Cafe in Thu Duc, Vietnam-1.jpg
A sign above a computer monitor in an Internet cafe reminding patrons that they are forbidden from accessing sites with "reactionary" or "depraved" content

Under its 1997 decree regarding Internet usage, the General Director of the General Postal Bureau has the exclusive authority and primary role in managing the Internet. [2]

Regulatory responsibility for Internet material is divided along subject-matter lines with the Ministry of Culture and Information focusing on sexually explicit or violent content, while the Ministry of Public Security monitors politically sensitive content. Vietnam nominally guarantees freedom of speech, of the press, and of assembly through constitutional provisions, but state security laws and other regulations reduce these formal protections in practice. All information stored on, sent over, or retrieved from the Internet must comply with Vietnam's Press Law, Publication Law, and other laws, including state secrets and intellectual property protections. All domestic and foreign individuals and organizations involved in Internet activity in Vietnam are legally responsible for content created, disseminated, and stored. It is unlawful to use Internet resources or host material that opposes the state; destabilizes Vietnam's security, economy, or social order; incites opposition to the state; discloses state secrets; infringes organizations’ or individuals’ rights; or interferes with the state's DNS servers. Law on Information Technology was enacted in June 2006. Those who violate Internet use rules are subject to a range of penalties, from fines to criminal liability for offenses such as causing chaos or security disorder. [7]

A 2010 law required public Internet providers, such as Internet cafes, hotels, and businesses providing free Wi-Fi, to install software to track users' activities. [8] [9]

In September 2013, Decree 72 came into effect; making it illegal to distribute any materials online that "harms national security” or “opposes" the government, only allows users to "provide or exchange personal information" through blogs and social media outlets—banning the distribution of "general information" or any information from a media outlet (including state-owned outlets), and requires that foreign web companies operate servers domestically if they target users in Vietnam. [10]

Censored content

A list of regulations posted at an Internet cafe north of Saigon, among the listed rules are those forbidding patrons from accessing sites with subversive or pornographic content. Warning in Internet Cafe in Thu Duc, Vietnam-2.jpg
A list of regulations posted at an Internet cafe north of Saigon, among the listed rules are those forbidding patrons from accessing sites with subversive or pornographic content.

Subversive content

According to a 2007 research by OpenNet Initiative, blocking is concentrated on websites with contents about overseas political opposition, overseas and independent media, human rights, and religious topics. [11] Proxies and circumvention tools, which are illegal to use, are also frequently blocked.

The majority of blocked websites are specific to Vietnam: those written in Vietnamese or dealing with issues related to Vietnam. [12] Sites not specifically related to Vietnam or only written in English are rarely blocked. For example, the Vietnamese-language version of the website for Radio Free Asia was blocked by both tested ISPs while the English-language version was only blocked by one. [13] While only the website for the human rights organization Human Rights Watch was blocked in the tested list of global human rights sites, many Vietnamese-language sites only tangentially or indirectly critical of the government were blocked as well as sites strongly critical of the government.

The website of the British Broadcasting Corporation (www.bbc.co.uk), which has a significant journalistic presence, is an example of a website that is blocked—albeit intermittently.

Pornography

In November 2019, Vietnamese ISPs blocked porn sites. [14]

Social networking

The popular social networking website Facebook has about 8.5 million users in Vietnam and its user base has been growing quickly after the website added a Vietnamese-language interface. [15] During the week of November 16, 2009, Vietnamese Facebook users reported being unable to access the website. [16] Access had been intermittent in the previous weeks, and there were reports of technicians ordered by the government to block access to Facebook.

A supposedly official decree dated August 27, 2009, was earlier leaked on the Internet, but its authenticity has not been confirmed. The Vietnamese government denied deliberately blocking access to Facebook, and the Internet service provider FPT said that it is working with foreign companies to solve a fault blocking to Facebook's servers in the United States. [17]

Blogging

In 2013, Associated Press reported that the Ministry of Information and Communications were preparing new rules that would restrict blogs to personal matters. [18]

Global Voices Advocacy maintains a list of bloggers who have been arrested for their views expressed online. [19] Many bloggers were arrested by the Vietnamese government during the 2011 crackdown on Vietnamese youth activists.

In 2020, Medium was blocked.[ citation needed ]

Online gaming

On May 7th, 2024. the digital game distribution platform Steam was blocked by most major Vietnamese ISPs, with many users reports an inability to access the storefront. Speculations on the reasoning behind the block was due to government officials "finding solutions to prevent cross-border services from reaching Vietnamese users" on grounds of "releasing games without permissions". [20] According to the Ministry of Information and Communications, Steam did not respond and comply with them for licensing games to be sold in Vietnam leading to Steam's online services being blocked through ISPs. [21]

Persecution for illegal Internet activities

A component of Vietnam's strategy to control the Internet consists of the arrest of bloggers, netizens and journalists. [22] [23] The goal of these arrests is to prevent dissidents from pursuing their activities, and to persuade others to practice self-censorship. Vietnam is the world's second largest prison for netizens after China. [24]

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References

  1. 1 2 Reporters Without Borders. "Internet Enemies: Vietnam". Archived from the original on 2009-07-02. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
  2. 1 2 Robert N. Wilkey (Summer 2002). "Vietnam's Antitrust Legislation and Subscription to E-ASEAN: An End to the Bamboo Firewall Over Internet Regulation?". The John Marshall Journal of Computer and Information Law. XX (4). The John Marshall Law School. Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2012-01-11.
  3. ↑ OpenNet Initiative "Summarized global Internet filtering data spreadsheet" Archived 2012-01-10 at the Wayback Machine , 8 November 2011 and "Country Profiles" Archived 2011-08-26 at the Wayback Machine , the OpenNet Initiative is a collaborative partnership of the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto; the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University; and the SecDev Group, Ottawa
  4. ↑ Internet Enemies Archived 2012-03-23 at the Wayback Machine , Reporters Without Borders (Paris), 12 March 2012
  5. ↑ "OpenNet Initiative Vietnam Report: University Research Team Finds an Increase in Internet Censorship in Vietnam". Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. 2006-08-05. Archived from the original on 2008-09-05. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
  6. ↑ Amnesty International (2006-10-22). "Viet Nam: Internet repression creates climate of fear". Archived from the original on 2018-11-22. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
  7. ↑ "Vietnam country report" Archived 2008-05-09 at the Wayback Machine , OpenNet Initiative, 9 May 2007
  8. ↑ Harvey, Rachel (2010-08-18). "Vietnam's bid to tame the internet boom". Archived from the original on 2016-09-27. Retrieved 2019-11-25.
  9. ↑ Censorship, Index on (2014-02-20). "Internet repression in Vietnam continues as 30-month prison sentence for blogger is upheld". Index on Censorship. Archived from the original on 2019-09-28. Retrieved 2019-11-25.
  10. ↑ "Just Stick to Celebrity Gossip: Vietnam Bans Discussion of News From Blogs and Social Sites". Time. 2 September 2013. Archived from the original on 5 September 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
  11. ↑ "Vietnam | OpenNet Initiative". Archived from the original on 2011-09-05.
  12. ↑ "Vietnam | OpenNet Initiative". Archived from the original on 2011-09-05.
  13. ↑ "Vietnam | OpenNet Initiative". Archived from the original on 2011-09-05.
  14. ↑ "Vietnam Internet service providers allegedly block access to porn sites". 21 November 2019.
  15. ↑ ""Vietnam boasts 30.8 million internet users." Accessed 5-21-2013". Archived from the original on 2013-06-04. Retrieved 2013-05-21.
  16. ↑ STOCKING, BEN (2009-11-17). "Vietnam Internet users fear Facebook blackout". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 2018-03-19. Retrieved 2019-11-25.
  17. ↑ Marsh, Vivien (2009-11-20). "Vietnam government denies blocking networking site". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2013-06-19. Retrieved 2009-11-20.
  18. ↑ Ben Stocking (2008-12-06). "Test for Vietnam government: free-speech bloggers". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2008-12-09. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  19. ↑ "Threatened Voices: Bloggers >> Vietnam" Archived 2010-04-17 at the Wayback Machine , Global Voices Advocacy, accessed 20 March 2012
  20. ↑ Lê Mỹ (April 22, 2024). "Nền tảng Steam phát hành hơn 100.000 game không phép vào Việt Nam". Vietnamnet.
  21. ↑ Quý, Lưu (June 30, 2024). "Lý do nền tảng game Steam bị chặn ở Việt Nam". VnExpress. Retrieved July 2, 2024.
  22. ↑ "Vietnam Report" in Enemies of the Internet 2011 Archived 2012-05-14 at the Wayback Machine , Reporters Without Borders
  23. ↑ "Vietnam Report" in Enemies of the Internet 2012 Archived 2012-03-15 at the Wayback Machine , Reporters Without Borders
  24. ↑ 121 Netizens Imprisoned in 2012 Archived 2012-11-10 at the Wayback Machine , Press Freedom Barometer 2012, Reporters Without Borders
  25. ↑ "Blogger Lu Van Bay Serving Four-Year Sentence" Archived 2012-05-12 at the Wayback Machine , Reporters Without Borders, 26 September 2011
  26. ↑ "Document". www.amnesty.org. Archived from the original on 2017-04-26. Retrieved 2017-04-26.
  27. ↑ Paddock, Richard C. (27 November 2017). "Vietnamese Blogger Gets 7 Years in Jail for Reporting on Toxic Spill". The New York Times . Archived from the original on 28 November 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  28. ↑ "Vietnam: Crackdown on Peaceful Dissent Intensifies". Human Rights Watch. 2020-06-19. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
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