Sweeping Vietnam internet law comes into force
BANGKOK—New Vietnamese internet rules requiring Facebook and TikTok to verify user identities and hand over data to authorities came into force on Wednesday, in what critics say is the latest attack on freedom of expression.
Under “Decree 147,” all tech giants operating in Vietnam must verify users’ accounts via their phone numbers or Vietnamese identification numbers and store that information alongside their full name and date of birth.
They must provide that data to authorities on request and remove any content the government regards as “illegal” within 24 hours.
The new rules came into force on Wednesday, state media VNExpress said.
‘Infringement’
All social media sites had been given 90 days to provide data on “the total number of regular visits from Vietnam” and the number of regular users per month to authorities, the website said.
“Decree 147 will be used to publicly suppress those with different viewpoints,” said activist Dang Thi Hue, who writes about politics and social issues on her Facebook account, which has 28,000 followers.
The decree was “the latest sign of infringement of basic freedoms … with a vague line between what is legal and what is not,” said former political prisoner Le Anh Hung.
“No one wants to go to jail, so of course some activists will be more cautious and afraid of this decree.”
Vietnam’s hard-line administration generally moves swiftly to stamp out dissent and arrest critics, especially those who find an audience on social media.
Verified accounts
In October, blogger Duong Van Thai—who had almost 120,000 followers on YouTube, where he regularly recorded livestreams critical of the government—was jailed for 12 years on charges of publishing antistate information.
Decree 147 builds on a 2018 cybersecurity law that was sharply criticized by the United States, European Union and internet freedom advocates who said it mimics China’s repressive censorship of the internet.
The decree also says that only verified accounts can livestream, impacting the exploding number of people earning a living through social commerce on sites such as TikTok.
