The law imposes sweeping restrictions on freedom of expression online, including prohibitions on the use of the internet to organize opposition to the state, distort Vietnam’s revolutionary history and achievements, spread false information, and harm socioeconomic activities. Internet freedom in Vietnam is poised to worsen in the next year with the January 2019 implementation of a new cybersecurity law passed in June 2018 (after this report’s coverage period). Pro-democracy and independent news websites, Việt Tân and Tiếng Dân, were hit with DDoS attacks from April to June 2018. Several individuals were handed heavy sentences in the past year, including the blogger known as “Mother Mushroom,” who was sentenced to 10 years in June 2017, and blogger Hoang Duc Binh, who was sentenced to 14 years in February 2018-the harshest sentence ever delivered to an activist. Meanwhile, Vietnam experienced a substantial crackdown against online speech more than 25 bloggers were expelled, convicted of crimes, or imprisoned in 2017 alone. Critics contend that Force 47’s main objective is to spread smear campaigns aimed at opponents of the government. At the Community Party of Vietnam’s national conference on propaganda in December 2018, officials introduced Force 47, a new military unit with over 10,000 staff, “well qualified and loyal to the revolution,” whose task is to fight “wrong, distorting opinions” online. Online content manipulation also became a higher priority for the authorities. As of early 2018, the Ministry of Information and Communications had worked with Facebook to remove 670 accounts it condemned as “spreading reactionary, anti-Party, anti-state information, defaming Vietnamese leaders and the state.” Google had also complied with government requests and removed over 5,000 YouTube videos, which authorities claimed “slandered and defamed” the country’s leaders. Internet freedom remained highly restricted in the past year, characterized by a draconian crackdown on activists and online expression.Ĭensorship through content removals became more systematic.

Emergency Assistance and Thematic Programs.Afghanistan Human Rights Coordination Mechanism.Government Accountability & Transparency.

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