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| Vietnam threatens to shut down Facebook due to censorship demands |
A senior official at the US social media giant told Reuters: Vietnam has threatened to shut down Facebook if it does not bow to government pressure to censor more local political content through its platform.
The official said Facebook complied with a government request in April to significantly increase censorship of anti-patriotic posts by local users, but Vietnam again urged the company to tighten restrictions on posts. Important in August.
"We reached an agreement in April and Facebook stuck with it," the official said. We hope the Vietnamese government will do the same, but the government is trying to push us to increase the amount of content we block in Vietnam. What kind of threats does this cause? We did it.
The official pointed out that the threats include the complete closure of Facebook in Vietnam, a major market for social media companies with sales of nearly one billion dollars.
Facebook is facing increasing government pressure on its content policies, including threats to introduce new regulations and fines. However, Facebook avoided the bans in some places (like China) that were not allowed to operate.
Despite extensive economic reforms and increasingly open social changes, the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam continues to adhere to a strict regime of media censorship, and is open to objections.
In response to a question from Reuters, Vietnam's Foreign Ministry replied: Facebook should respect local laws and stop publishing information that conflicts with the traditional customs and national interests of Vietnam.
A Facebook spokeswoman said Vietnam has faced more pressure in recent months to censor more content.
In its semi-annual transparency report released on Friday, Facebook said Vietnam restricted access to 834 people in the first six months of this year after the Vietnamese government demanded that anti-nationalist content be removed.
Facebook has nearly 60 million users in Vietnam, is the main platform for e-commerce and political opposition, and is currently under constant government surveillance.
Reuters reported in April that Facebook's local server in Vietnam shut down earlier this year to meet government demands.
Facebook has long been criticized by human rights organizations for its excessive compliance with state oversight requirements.
Vietnam tried to build a local social network to compete with Facebook, but it did not gain popularity.
Prior to the current stalemate, the state-controlled media in Vietnam ran a negative 14-month media campaign on Facebook.
"Facebook has clear responsibilities for doing business around the world, and Vietnam is no exception, but the platform defends Vietnam's interests. In the foreground and does not respect human rights," said Meng Yoo-huh, Deputy Regional Director for Campaign Activities at Amnesty International.