Hanoi, new online restrictions target e-businesses

Decree 147 in force from next month strengthens restrictions on data collection and content removal. Users: the regulation is good for the government and bad for companies. Inmates can be fined for spreading false information and prosecuted for anti-state propaganda.

Hanoi (AsiaNews) - Internet users and activists in Vietnam are raising the alarm over the further crackdown planned by Hanoi on the Internet and, more generally, freedom of expression characterised by a tightening of controls in the face of already heavily regulated access.

The rule is expected to come into force from next month and is intended to track companies' online browsing more closely: in particular, offshore service providers such as social media companies and app store service platforms must authenticate users in the country by requesting their phone or ID card numbers.

The directives are contained in Decree 147, which will come into force on 25 December.

‘Account authentication helps the authorities identify the real identity behind the user, providing good support for investigations and handling violations,’ Nguyen Tien Ma of the Ministry of Communications' Department of Information Security told Vietnam Television.

Users of national social networking sites are also banned from publishing news and interviews. An activist in Hanoi, who did not wish to be identified, told Radio Free Asia (Rfa) that this will prevent the revival of a previously strong citizen journalism movement that used blogs to provide news and commentary on political issues.

In addition, Decree 147 broadens the scope of content supervision, requiring Internet providers to self-punish themselves by monitoring and removing content deemed illegal by Vietnamese authorities. A businesswoman from Hung Yen city said the decree is good for the government and bad for businesses.

'Online sales are so popular now, everyone can sell online, so how can the government ignore such a lucrative opportunity? They have to track sellers,' he adds, ’to collect taxes. However, some online businesses are unaware of the decree and its implications, as revealed by questioning some owners of online fashion shops in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. Both said they were completely unaware of the repercussions on their livestream marketing activities following the introduction of the controversial decree.

Since the promulgation of the cyber-security law in 2018, the government has issued three decrees relating to the management, provision and use of internet services and online information: in particular, the law prohibits the use of cyberspace to ‘oppose the state, spread false information that causes public confusion, offend others [and] violate national security’.

Moreover, companies must delete information deemed illegal at the request of the government; otherwise, their service will be suspended. Internet users can be fined for spreading false information and can be prosecuted for anti-state propaganda.

Decree 27 expanded the scope of monitoring to include misleading and untruthful information considered ‘bad or toxic’ but ‘not yet illegal’. Decree 53 further tightened national security-related content, which must be removed within 24 hours if considered a threat. Finally, the regulations require social network providers to use technology to automatically detect and report prohibited behaviour. So far, no comment from the top management of the major global players in the sector, including Google and Meta (Facebook).