The Vietnamese government tolerates no online political debate. Bloggers and cyber-dissidents who dare to question the government’s legitimacy or domestic policies are ruthlessly suppressed. Authorities have deployed a judicial, administrative and technological strike force, based in the Ministry of Information and Communications, to control online information. Though officials and the justice system on their own do not hesitate to violate articles 88 and 79 of the criminal code by imprisoning independent news providers, the ministry conducts its own internet censorship policy – ever more meticulously and with overwhelming force.
Internet regulation is the ministry’s prerogative. The office in charge of the task is the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information. The ministry prepares and proposes laws that allow authorities to justify to the international community prosecutions of bloggers and cyber-dissidents. In order to avoid submitting legislation to the National Assembly, where members could comment on or raise questions about proposed legislation – although there would be no risk of a bill being voted down – these laws take the form of decrees from the prime minister.
Read more: http://12mars.rsf.org/2014-en/2014/03/10/vietnam-targeting-bloggers/
