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Agence France-Presse

A law requiring internet companies in Vietnam to remove content communist authorities dislike came into effect on Tuesday, in a move critics called “a totalitarian model of information control”.
The new cybersecurity law has received sharp criticism from the US, the EU and internet freedom advocates who say it mimics China’s repressive censorship of the internet.

It requires internet companies to remove content the government regards as “toxic” and compels them to hand over use data if asked to do so.
Tech giants such as Facebook and Google will also have to open representative offices in Vietnam if they wish to continue operating in the country.
The Ministry of Public Security published a draft decree on how the law may be implemented in November, giving companies which offer internet services in Vietnam up to 12 months to comply.

It said the bill was aimed at staving off cyberattacks and weeding out “hostile and reactionary forces” using the internet to stir up violence and dissent, according to a transcript of a question-and-answer session with lawmakers in October.
In response to the law, which was approved by Vietnam’s rubber-stamp parliament last June, Facebook said it is committed to protecting the rights of its users and enabling people to express themselves freely and safely.
“We will remove content that violates [Facebook’s] standards when we are made aware of it,” the company said in a statement, adding that it has a clear process to manage requests from governments around the world.

Hanoi has said Google is taking steps to open up an office in Vietnam to comply with the new law, though the internet giant refused to comment at this stage.
The law also bans internet users in Vietnam from spreading information deemed to be anti-state or anti-government, as well as prohibiting use the internet to distort history and “post false information that could cause confusion and damage to socio-economic activities”.
Critics say online freedom is shrinking under a hardline administration that has been in charge since 2016. Dozens of activists have been jailed at a pace not seen in years.

Human Rights Watch has called on the communist authorities to revise the law and postpone its implementation.
“This law is designed to further enable the Ministry of Public Security’s pervasive surveillance to spot critics, and to deepen the Communist Party’s monopoly on power,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of the NGO.

The law comes into force a week after Vietnam’s Association of Journalists announced a new code of conduct on the use of social media by its members, forbidding reporters to post news, picture and comments that “run counter to” the state.
Daniel Bastard of Reporters Without Borders decried the new requirements for journalists and the cybersecurity law, calling it “a totalitarian model of information control”.
Critics also warn the new internet law – particularly the data-sharing element – will make start-ups think twice about relocating to Vietnam. The country is currently seeking to build a reputation as a Southeast Asian financial technology hub.
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Vietnam

New year, new repression: Vietnam imposes draconian ‘China-like’ cybersecurity law

Chinese President Xi Jinping (C) and Vietnam's Communist Party Secretary General Nguyen Phu Trong (R). Photo: AFP

Facebook. MUST CREDIT: Bloomberg photo by Andrew Harrer

epa07047287 A handout photo made available by the Vietnam News Agency shows Vietnam's Minister of Public Security To Lam (2-L) paying respect at the funeral of Vietnam's late President Tran Dai Quang at the National Funeral House, in Hanoi, Vietnam, 26 September 2018. Vietnam will hold a two-day state funeral on 26 and 27 September for late President Tran Dai Quang, who died on 21 September 2018 at the age of 61. EPA-EFE/VIETNAM NEWS AGENCY / HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

Luu Van Vinh (2nd-L) and other activists who were charged of subversion, stand trial in Ho Chi Minh city on October 5, 2018. - A Vietnamese court on October 5, jailed five activists up to 15 years after finding them guilty of "attempting to overthrow the state", a charge often blamed by observers as vaguely worded. (Photo by Vietnam News Agency / Vietnam News Agency / AFP)

TO GO WITH "Vietnam-politics-internet-censorship,FOCUS" by Cat Barton This picture taken on January 15, 2013 shows a man reading online news with his laptop at a coffee shop in downtown Hanoi. After harassment and prison failed to silence Vietnam's dissident bloggers, the communist government started building an army of propaganda agents to infiltrate chatrooms and sing the regime's praises. AFP PHOTO/HOANG DINH Nam

Vietnam's Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong speaks after being elected as Vietnam's State President during a National Assembly session in Hanoi, Vietnam October 23, 2018. REUTERS/Kham

Australia has become the first western country to pass a bill forcing tech companies to hand over your encrypted data

Persons hold smartphones with the Facebook logo in front of displayed "top secret" and "email" words in this picture illustration taken December 6, 2018. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

File illustration picture of a projection of binary code around the shadow of a man holding a laptop computer in an office in Warsaw June 24, 2013. An encrypted email service believed to have been used by American fugitive Edward Snowden shut down abruptly August 8, 2013, amid a legal fight that appeared to involve U.S. government attempts to win access to customer information. Lavabit LLC owner Ladar Levison said he has decided to "suspend operations" but was barred from discussing the events over the past six weeks that led to his decision. That matches the period since Snowden went public as the source of media reports detailing secret electronic spying operations by the U.S. National Security Agency. The U.S. Department of Justice had no immediate comment. TO GO WITH STORY USA-SECURITY/SNOWDEN-EMAIL REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Files (POLAND - Tags: SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

epa06721166 Australian Leader of the Opposition Bill Shorten speaks to the media during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia, 09 May 2018. Three Labor MPs have resigned their seats in parliament following a High Court ruling disqualifying their Senate colleague Katy Gallagher. Backbenchers Justine Keay, Josh Wilson and Susan Lamb delivered resignation speeches in the lower house on Wednesday afternoon, surrounded by party colleagues. All have indicated they'll contest their seats in by-elections. EPA-EFE/LUKAS COCH AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT

The law allows Australian security services to access encrypted messages sent on services such as Telegram and WhatsApp. Photo: EPA

News

Asia

Southeast Asia

Internet companies can now be compelled to hand over user data, and must remove content the communist authorities deem inappropriate
Critics say the move mimics China’s repressive censorship of the internet and dubbed it ‘a totalitarian model of information control’


Internet companies can now be compelled to hand over user data, and must remove content the communist authorities deem inappropriate


New year, new repression: Vietnam imposes draconian ‘China-like’ cybersecurity law

Internet companies can now be compelled to hand over user data, and must remove content the communist authorities deem inappropriate Critics say the move mimics China’s repressive censorship of the internet and dubbed it ‘a totalitarian model of information control’

Internet companies can now be compelled to hand over user data, and must remove content the communist authorities deem inappropriate

Critics say the move mimics China’s repressive censorship of the internet and dubbed it ‘a totalitarian model of information control’