Vietnam police probe prominent journalist over ‘anti-state’ acts
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The Vietnam government has intensified efforts to control online speech under Communist Party chief To Lam’s influence, according to an August report.
PHOTO: AFP
HANOI – Vietnam’s police launched criminal proceedings against prominent journalist and blogger Le Anh Hung for alleged anti-state activities, in a country where authorities maintain a tightly controlled media environment.
Mr Hung, a former Voice of America (VOA) contributor, is accused of “making, storing, disseminating or propagating information, documents, or items against the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam”, according to a statement on the Hanoi police’s website.
The 52-year-old was previously convicted of “abusing democratic freedoms” and released from prison in 2023 after five years behind bars, according to VOA.
The most recent post on his blog highlights a Hanoi city campaign to eliminate illegal markets.
According to an August report from Reporters Without Borders, under Communist Party chief To Lam’s influence, the government has intensified efforts to control online speech.
The non-governmental organisation ranked the South-east Asian nation 173rd out of 180 countries and territories in its 2025 World Press Freedom Index, which assesses the level of freedom available to journalists.
In December, the editor and founder of a Germany-based Vietnamese-language news site, Le Trung Khoa, was convicted in absentia of anti-state activities under Article 117 of the Penal Code and sentenced to 17 years in prison.
In February 2025, journalist Truong Huy San was sentenced to 30 months in prison for posting articles on Facebook that were critical of the government.
Vietnam’s Parliament in December passed amendments to the press law that tighten restrictions over information gathering and sharing.
The legislation significantly widened the scope under which journalists can be required to reveal their sources, a move that Human Rights Watch described as the “latest step in Vietnam’s ongoing crackdown on dissent and media freedom”.
There are more than 160 political prisoners in Vietnam, including bloggers, labour union and democracy advocates, the rights agency said in January. BLOOMBERG
