Vietnam’s new ‘draconian’ internet laws heighten free speech fears

BANGKOK – Social media users in Vietnam on platforms such as Facebook and TikTok will need to verify their identities as part of strict new internet regulations that critics say further undermine freedom of expression in the communist country.

The law, which comes into force on Christmas Day, will compel tech giants operating in Vietnam to store user data, provide it to the authorities on request, and remove content the government regards as “illegal” within 24 hours.

Decree 147, as it is known, builds on a 2018 cyber-security law that was sharply criticised by the United States, European Union and internet freedom advocates who say it mimics China’s repressive censorship of the internet.

Vietnam’s hardline administration generally moves swiftly to stamp out dissent and arrest critics, especially those who find an audience on social media.

In October, blogger Duong Van Thai – who had almost 120,000 followers on YouTube, where he regularly recorded live streaming critical of the government – was jailed for 12 years on charges of publishing anti-state information.

Months earlier, leading independent journalist Huy Duc, author of one of the most popular blogs in Vietnam – which took aim at the government on issues including media control and corruption – was arrested.

His posts “violated interests of the state”, the authorities said.

Critics say that Decree 147 will also expose dissidents who post anonymously to the risk of arrest.

“Many people work quietly but effectively in advancing the universal values of human rights,” Ho Chi Minh City-based blogger and rights activist Nguyen Hoang Vi said.

She warned that the new decree “may encourage self-censorship, where people avoid expressing dissenting views to protect their safety – ultimately harming the overall development of democratic values” in Vietnam.

Mr Le Quang Tu Do of the Information and Communications Ministry (MIC) told state media that Decree 147 would “regulate behaviour in order to maintain social order, national security, and national sovereignty in cyberspace”.

Game over

Aside from the ramifications for social media companies, Decree 147 and the new laws that go with it also include curbs on gaming for those who are under 18, designed to prevent addiction.

Game publishers are expected to enforce a time limit of an hour per game session and not more than 180 minutes a day for all games.

Nguyen Minh Hieu, a 17-year-old high school student in Hanoi who admits that he is addicted to gaming, said the new restrictions would be “really tough” to follow – and to enforce.

Games are

“designed to be addictive”

, he said. “We often spend hours and hours playing match after match.”

Just over half of Vietnam’s 100 million population regularly plays such games, says data research company Newzoo.

A large proportion of the population is also on social media, with the MIC estimating that the country has 65 million Facebook users, 60 million people on YouTube and 20 million on TikTok.

Under the new laws, these tech titans – along with all “foreign organisations, enterprises and individuals” – must verify users’ accounts via phone numbers or Vietnamese identification numbers, and store that data alongside their full names and dates of birth.

They should provide it on demand to the MIC or the powerful Ministry of Public Security.

Decree 147 also says that only verified accounts can live-stream, impacting the exploding number of people

earning a living through social commerce

on sites such as TikTok.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) is calling on the government to repeal the “draconian” new decree, which the campaign group says threatens access to information and freedom of expression.

“Vietnam’s new Decree 147 and its other cyber-security laws neither protect the public from any genuine security concerns nor respect fundamental human rights,” said Ms Patricia Gossman, HRW associate director for Asia.

“Because the Vietnamese police treat any criticism of the Communist Party of Vietnam as a national security matter, this decree will provide them with yet another tool to suppress dissent.” AFP