Social media users in Vietnam who use platforms such as Facebook and TikTok will have to verify their identity as part of tough new internet regulations that critics say will further undermine freedom of expression in the communist country.
The law comes into effect on Christmas Day and requires technology companies operating in Vietnam to store user data, provide it to authorities upon request, and remove content the government deems “illegal” within 24 hours. oblige.
Decree 147, as it is known, builds on the 2018 Cybersecurity Law, which was heavily criticized by the US, EU, and internet freedom advocates for emulating China's repressive internet censorship. .
Vietnam's hardline government generally moves quickly to root out dissent and arrest critics, especially those who find an audience on social media.
In October, Duong Van Thai, a blogger who regularly recorded livestreams criticizing the government and had around 120,000 followers on YouTube, was sentenced to 12 years for publishing anti-state information. received a prison sentence.
A few months ago, Huy Duc, a prominent independent journalist who wrote one of Vietnam's most popular blogs criticizing the government on issues such as media control and corruption, was arrested.
Authorities said his posts “violated the interests of the state.”
Critics argue that Decree 147 will also put dissidents who post anonymously at risk of arrest.
“Many people are working quietly but effectively to promote the universal value of human rights,” Ho Chi Minh City-based blogger and rights activist Nguyen Hoang Vi told AFP. Ta.
He said the new legislation could “encourage self-censorship, where people avoid expressing dissenting opinions to protect their own safety, and could ultimately undermine the overall development of democratic values in the country.” “There is,” he warned.
Le Quang Tu Do from the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) told state media that Decree 147 “regulates actions to maintain social order, national security and national sovereignty in cyberspace.” .
Apart from its impact on social media companies, the new law also includes restrictions on gaming for under-18s aimed at preventing addiction.
Game publishers are required to enforce a time limit of one hour per game session and no more than 180 minutes per day for all games.
Nguyen Minh Hieu, 17, a Hanoi high school student who admits to being addicted to gaming, told AFP that it would be “very difficult” to follow and enforce the new regulations.
The game is “designed to be addictive,” he said. “We often play for many hours game after game.”
Just over half of Vietnam's 100 million people regularly play these games, according to data research firm Newzoo.
A large portion of the population also uses social media, with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications estimating that there are approximately 65 million Facebook users in the country, 60 million YouTube users, and 20 million TikTok users.
Under the new law, these tech giants, like all “foreign organizations, companies and individuals,” will be able to authenticate users' accounts using phone numbers or Vietnamese identification numbers and share that information with full names and Must be saved along with date of birth.
They must provide information on request to the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the powerful Ministry of Public Security.
The law also states that only verified accounts can livestream, impacting the exploding number of people who make a living through social commerce on sites like TikTok.
Facebook's parent company Meta, YouTube owner Google and TikTok did not respond to AFP's requests for comment.
Human Rights Watch is calling on the government to rescind the “draconian” new law.
“Vietnam's new Decree 147 and other cybersecurity laws neither protect citizens from real security concerns nor respect fundamental human rights,” said Patricia Gosman, HRW's associate director for Asia. he said.
“The Vietnamese police treat any criticism of the Communist Party of Vietnam as a matter of national security, so this decree provides them with new tools to suppress dissent.”
