Democratic Voice of Vietnam

Bringing the voice of Vietnam’s civil society to the world

A project of BPSOS

Category: News

  • Vietnam’s downward spiral

    The Phnom Penh Post March 17, 2013 By Roger Mitton Vietnam is a sad country these days. Almost every report about the place, whether it concerns the economy, corruption, political repression or the price of beer, is profoundly depressing. Perhaps the most melancholic item was a story by the journalist Nguyen Phuong Linh in last…

  • Fear of change in Vietnam

    Mar 6, 2013 By Khanh Vu Duc  Fear has long underpinned the authoritarian rule of Vietnam’s Communist Party. Fear of change; fear of the people over which they rule; fear that the people might soon demand more freedom, accountability and transparency than their once revolutionary leaders are willing to allow.  While Vietnam’s communist leaders have…

  • Vietnam among 5 governments identified as Enemies of the Internet

    11 March 2013 Today, 12 March, World Day Against Cyber-Censorship, Reporters Without Borders is releasing a Special report on Internet surveillance, available at surveillance.rsf.org/en. It looks at the way governments are increasingly using technology that monitors online activity and intercepts electronic communication in order to arrest journalists, citizen-journalists and dissidents. Around 180 netizens worldwide are…

  • Ta Phong Tan honored by Michelle Obama with 2013 International Women of Courage Award

    On March 8, jailed Vietnamese blogger Ta Phong Tan was among those presented with the 2013 International Women of Courage Award, in absentia.   US Secretary of State John Kerry described the reason for the selection: “As a former member of the Vietnamese Communist Party, Ta Phong Tan made a name for herself when she began posting articles online…

  • IFEX interviewed Vietnamese free expression champion Nguyen Hoang Vi

    March 7, 2013 Nguyen Hoang Vi: Nguyen has spent much of her early 20s under surveillance by security agents for blogging critically about the government. Shortly after we profiled her, she was detained near the courthouse where she was hoping to attend the appeal of three bloggers jailed on anti-state propaganda charges. While in custody,…

  • Reporters Without Borders Awards Vietnamese blogger Huynh Ngoc Chenh

    Published on Thursday 7 March 2013. Updated on Friday 8 March 2013. Reporters Without Borders, with support from Google, Thursday awarded its Netizen of the Year 2013 award to  Vietnamese blogger Huynh Ngoc Chenh. Reporters Without Borders chose the nominees and more than 40,000 Internet users visited the YouTube site from around the world. They…

  • Vietnam reporter fired for criticising ruling party chief

    The Sun DailyPosted on 27 February 2013 – 03:23pmLast updated on 27 February 2013 – 04:18pm HANOI (Feb 27, 2013): A Vietnamese journalist said Wednesday he had been fired from his state-run newspaper after criticising the head of the ruling Communist Party in a personal blog. Nguyen Dac Kien was sacked from the Family and…

  • Vietnam economic crisis takes heavy toll on society

    Posted: 13 February 2013 2128 hrs HANOI: From growing numbers of people with depression to families bankrupted by stock market investments, many are suffering in Vietnam’s slow-burn economic crisis — and blame the communist regime for their woes. After swapping Soviet-style central planning for free-market reforms in the mid 1980s, Vietnam became a regional poster-child…

  • Hard Times for Press Freedom in Asia

    The Diplomat, By Zachary Keck February 1, 2013 Nearly half of the twenty countries with the least amount of press freedom in the world are located in the Asia-Pacific, according to Reporters Without Borders’ 2013 World Press Freedom Index. Of the twenty countries making the bottom of the list, nine are located in the Asia-Pacific.…

  • Vietnam jails 22 for subversion

    Reuters in Bangkok, Monday 4 February 2013 04.43 EST A court in Vietnam has sentenced a man to life in prison and given jail terms of up to 17 years to other defendants after they were found guilty of “subversive activities”, according to the state-run Vietnam Television. The verdict follows a series of harsh punishments handed down for…