HANOI (REUTERS) - Vietnam on Thursday (March 16) called on all companies doing business in the country to stop advertising on YouTube, Facebook and other social media until they find a way to halt the publication of "toxic" anti-government information.

The communist country is putting increasing pressure on advertisers to try to get YouTube owner Google and other companies to remove content from foreign-based dissidents.

"Today we call on all Vietnamese firms that are advertising not to abet them to take advertising money from firms to use against the Vietnamese government," Information and Communication Minister Truong Minh Tuan told a meeting in Hanoi.

"We also call on all internet users to raise their voice to Google and Facebook to prevent toxic, fake content violating Vietnamese law in the online environment."