Global media watchdog condemns Vietnam Internet curbs
HANOI - International media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemned a directive by Vietnam's ruling communist party aimed at stepping up surveillance of Internet use in the country.
A party official said that the directive intends to check "reactionary and hostile forces" from abusing the Internet.
The Paris-based watchdog said that the owners of Vietnam's 5,000 cyber-cafes would be turned into police auxiliaries.
The directive will also tighten controls on online journalists, RSF said, adding that although the Vietnamese government tried to justify the measures by referring to national security and defence, they were clearly designed to stifle dissent.
"It is individual freedoms that will suffer dramatically as a result of a law like this," RSF said.
"These measures are a complete negation of the free enterprise principles espoused by the World Trade Organisation, which Vietnam is trying to join."
Vietnamese authorities last year issued rules to ensure a close check on Internet content but the latest directive comes after previous attempts to enforce those laws fell short of expectations.
Three cyber-dissidents are currently imprisoned in Vietnam, RSF noted.
They are Nguyen Khac Toan, Nguyen Vu Binh and Pham Hong Son, who is serving a five-year sentence for downloading an article entitled "What is democracy?" from the US embassy's website, translating it into Vietnamese and distributing it on the Internet.
Vietnam's regime retains a tight grip over all domestic media activities. No private media outlets are permitted.
Agence France Presse - July 26, 2005.
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