12-02-2020, 04:59 AM
Vietnam: Facebook and Google 'complicit' in censorship
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Facebook and Google have aided the Vietnamese government in censoring criticism and repressing dissent,
says rights group Amnesty.
In a new report, the group accuses the tech giants of "far-reaching complicity" by blocking content deemed
critical of authorities.
Vietnam's authorities have a reputation for restricting freedom of speech.
In recent years several bloggers have been jailed for publishing articles critical of the Communist state.
"In the last decade, the right to freedom of expression flourished on Facebook and YouTube in Vietnam.
More recently, however, authorities began focusing on peaceful online expression as an existential threat to
the regime," said Ming Yu Hah, Amnesty International's deputy regional director for campaigns.
"Today these platforms have become hunting grounds for censors, military cyber-troops and state-sponsored
trolls. The platforms themselves are not merely letting it happen - they're increasingly complicit."
Amnesty's 78-page-report is based on dozens of interviews with human rights defenders and activists, including
former prisoners of conscience, lawyers and writers.
The activists claim that their content posted on Facebook and YouTube, which is owned by Google, has been
increasingly blocked in Vietnam.
In one instance, freelance journalist Truong Chau Huu Danh posted on Facebook about an alleged corruption
scandal in Vietnam, but was later notified that his posts had been restricted in Vietnam due to
"local legal restrictions". He was not given any way to contest this, he said.
Facebook announced in April it would "significantly increase" compliance with Vietnamese government requests
to take down content.
Since then, the number of times the social media platform has restricted content in Vietnam has gone up by
983% , from 77 in the second half of 2019 to 834 in the first half of 2020, according to the company's latest
Transparency Report.
Similarly, Google received 74 requests to remove "government criticism" in the second half of 2019, up from
44 in the first half of the year, said Amnesty. This included a request to remove over 3,000 YouTube videos
that criticised the party and government.
Follow more news here. : slotxo
Facebook and Google have aided the Vietnamese government in censoring criticism and repressing dissent,
says rights group Amnesty.
In a new report, the group accuses the tech giants of "far-reaching complicity" by blocking content deemed
critical of authorities.
Vietnam's authorities have a reputation for restricting freedom of speech.
In recent years several bloggers have been jailed for publishing articles critical of the Communist state.
"In the last decade, the right to freedom of expression flourished on Facebook and YouTube in Vietnam.
More recently, however, authorities began focusing on peaceful online expression as an existential threat to
the regime," said Ming Yu Hah, Amnesty International's deputy regional director for campaigns.
"Today these platforms have become hunting grounds for censors, military cyber-troops and state-sponsored
trolls. The platforms themselves are not merely letting it happen - they're increasingly complicit."
Amnesty's 78-page-report is based on dozens of interviews with human rights defenders and activists, including
former prisoners of conscience, lawyers and writers.
The activists claim that their content posted on Facebook and YouTube, which is owned by Google, has been
increasingly blocked in Vietnam.
In one instance, freelance journalist Truong Chau Huu Danh posted on Facebook about an alleged corruption
scandal in Vietnam, but was later notified that his posts had been restricted in Vietnam due to
"local legal restrictions". He was not given any way to contest this, he said.
Facebook announced in April it would "significantly increase" compliance with Vietnamese government requests
to take down content.
Since then, the number of times the social media platform has restricted content in Vietnam has gone up by
983% , from 77 in the second half of 2019 to 834 in the first half of 2020, according to the company's latest
Transparency Report.
Similarly, Google received 74 requests to remove "government criticism" in the second half of 2019, up from
44 in the first half of the year, said Amnesty. This included a request to remove over 3,000 YouTube videos
that criticised the party and government.
Follow more news here. : slotxo