Reuters, April 21, 2020
HANOI (Reuters) – Facebook’s local servers in Vietnam were taken offline early this year, slowing local traffic to a crawl until it agreed to significantly increase the censorship of “anti-state” posts for local users, two sources at the company told Reuters on Tuesday.
FILE PHOTO: An internet user browses through the Vietnamese government’s new Facebook page in Hanoi, Vietnam December 30, 2015. REUTERS/Kham
The restrictions, which the sources said were carried out by state-owned telecommunications companies, knocked the servers offline for around seven weeks, meaning the website became unusable at times.
“We believe the action was taken to place significant pressure on us to increase our compliance with legal takedown orders when it comes to content that our users in Vietnam see,” the first of the two Facebook sources told Reuters.
In an emailed statement, Facebook confirmed it had reluctantly complied with the government’s request to “restrict access to content which it has deemed to be illegal”.
Vietnam’s foreign ministry, which handles requests from foreign journalists for comment from the government, did not respond to a Reuters request. State telecoms firms Viettel and Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) also did not respond to requests for comment.
Facebook has faced pressure to take down anti-government content in many countries over the years.
In Vietnam, despite sweeping economic reform and increasing openness to social change, the ruling Communist Party retains tight control of media and tolerates little dissent, ranking 175th of 180 countries on Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index.
To that end, it keeps a close watch on Facebook, which serves over 65 million users as the main platform for both e-commerce and expressions of political dissent.
ACTIVISTS JAILED
Early last year, Vietnam accused Facebook of violating a new cybersecurity law by allowing users to post anti-government comments on the platform.
In the months that followed, the human rights group Amnesty International said at least 16 people were arrested, detained or convicted for such posts. In November, state media reported that five more had been jailed.
The cybersecurity law requires foreign companies such as Facebook to set up local offices and store data in Vietnam – although Facebook says it does not store user data in the country.
The Facebook sources said the company typically resists requests to block access to user posts in a specific country, but the pressure of having its local servers impeded had forced it to comply.
“To be clear, that does not mean we will be complying with every request that the government sends us. But we did commit to restricting significantly more content,” one source said.
Facebook’s statement said: “We believe freedom of expression is a fundamental human right, and work hard to protect and defend this important civil liberty around the world …
“However, we have taken this action to ensure our services remain available and usable for millions of people in Vietnam, who rely on them every day”.
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April 22, 2020
Exclusive: Facebook agreed to censor posts after Vietnam slowed traffic – sources
by Nhan Quyen • [Human Rights]
HANOI (Reuters) – Facebook’s local servers in Vietnam were taken offline early this year, slowing local traffic to a crawl until it agreed to significantly increase the censorship of “anti-state” posts for local users, two sources at the company told Reuters on Tuesday.
The restrictions, which the sources said were carried out by state-owned telecommunications companies, knocked the servers offline for around seven weeks, meaning the website became unusable at times.
“We believe the action was taken to place significant pressure on us to increase our compliance with legal takedown orders when it comes to content that our users in Vietnam see,” the first of the two Facebook sources told Reuters.
In an emailed statement, Facebook confirmed it had reluctantly complied with the government’s request to “restrict access to content which it has deemed to be illegal”.
Vietnam’s foreign ministry, which handles requests from foreign journalists for comment from the government, did not respond to a Reuters request. State telecoms firms Viettel and Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) also did not respond to requests for comment.
Facebook has faced pressure to take down anti-government content in many countries over the years.
In Vietnam, despite sweeping economic reform and increasing openness to social change, the ruling Communist Party retains tight control of media and tolerates little dissent, ranking 175th of 180 countries on Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index.
To that end, it keeps a close watch on Facebook, which serves over 65 million users as the main platform for both e-commerce and expressions of political dissent.
ACTIVISTS JAILED
Early last year, Vietnam accused Facebook of violating a new cybersecurity law by allowing users to post anti-government comments on the platform.
In the months that followed, the human rights group Amnesty International said at least 16 people were arrested, detained or convicted for such posts. In November, state media reported that five more had been jailed.
The cybersecurity law requires foreign companies such as Facebook to set up local offices and store data in Vietnam – although Facebook says it does not store user data in the country.
The Facebook sources said the company typically resists requests to block access to user posts in a specific country, but the pressure of having its local servers impeded had forced it to comply.
“To be clear, that does not mean we will be complying with every request that the government sends us. But we did commit to restricting significantly more content,” one source said.
Facebook’s statement said: “We believe freedom of expression is a fundamental human right, and work hard to protect and defend this important civil liberty around the world …
“However, we have taken this action to ensure our services remain available and usable for millions of people in Vietnam, who rely on them every day”.