The Vietnamese government makes a controversial ban on the use of news in the media in the network (online) by its citizens. This new rule caused confusion among Internet users (netizens) in the Communist country.
The rule states that blogs and other social media sites may only contain personal information. It is not clear how the sanctions for the violations are.
However, in response to pressure from the United States and the European Union, the Vietnamese government said that outsiders have misunderstood the rule. The Vietnamese government says the new rules are precisely to protect their intellectual property rights and, therefore, will contribute to the development of internet standards in the country.
Vietnam itself is one of the countries with the largest internet development in Asia. There are currently about 31 million internet users in the country, about a third of the total population. In 2000 ago, there were only 2 million users. Most internet users are young people, aged 15-22, who account for 95 percent of total internet users. Social media is very popular, although in some places sometimes there are blocking up.
However, the Vietnamese government is ambiguous in the face of the massive development of the internet. On the one hand, they encourage the development of Internet infrastructure throughout the country, but on the other hand they also create restrictive policies.
The current government party, the Communist Party of Vietnam (VCP), considers the Internet a threat to their political monopoly.
To date, discussions about politics are forbidden. Thus, the Vietnamese government controls and censors online media, including the blog.
Bloggers who criticized the Communist Party government were imprisoned, raising a sub-district of human rights groups. In this year alone, 46 bloggers and pro-democracy activists have been tried and imprisoned for allegedly spreading anti-government propaganda.
Blogs with diverse and independently managed information provide a distinctive color for freedom of information in Vietnam. Activist groups, human rights advocates, or independent journalists use blogs to speak out. The risk is prison.