Facebook, Google
becoming ‘human rights-free zones’ in Vietnam: Amnesty
WORLD:
Facebook and Google are fast becoming “human rights-free zones” in Vietnam,
Amnesty International warned today (Dec 1), accusing the tech titans of helping
censor peaceful dissent and political expression in the country.
AFP
|
Tuesday 1
December 2020 Communist
Vietnam has long jailed its critics but has come under fire in recent years for
targeting users on Facebook, a popular forum for activists in the country where
all independent media is banned. The
social network admitted earlier this year that it was blocking content deemed
illegal by authorities, while its latest transparency report revealed a nearly
1,000% increase in the content it censors on government orders compared to the
previous six months. Amnesty
said today in a report that it had interviewed 11 activists whose content had
been restricted from view in Vietnam by Facebook this year. [Read
the whole report here] The
rights group also said three others had similar content censored by Google-owned
YouTube. One of
them, Nguyen Van Trang, who fled an arrest warrant in Vietnam for his
involvement in a pro-democracy group, said Facebook had since May restricted
every piece of content he posted about Communist Party boss Nguyen Phu Trong and
senior party member Tran Quoc Vuong. Trang
also said some of his posts on controversial issues such as land disputes were
blocked from view in Vietnam by YouTube. “I feel
angry about it,” he told AFP. “For
social activists, these platforms play an important role in influencing people
with regard to progressive values such as democracy, human rights, civil
society. “The
compromise between Facebook and Google is not only the act of blocking
information, but it also hinders the progress of a nation, where people do not
have many opportunities to participate in political activities.” ‘Propaganda
against the Party’ More than
53 million people use Facebook in Vietnam, accounting for over half the
population. The platform is also a crucial marketing tool for local business. Vietnam
is now the biggest country by revenue for Facebook and Google in Southeast Asia,
according to industry experts. But
Amnesty warned that while they were “once the great hope for the expansion of
freedom of expression in the country, social media platforms are fast becoming
human rights–free zones”.
Information Minister Nguyen Manh Hung said last month that tech companies were
complying with requests to remove “bad information, propaganda against the Party
and the State” at a higher rate than ever, according to state media. The same
article reported that this year Facebook complied with 95% of the government’s
requests whereas YouTube complied with 90%. A
Facebook spokesperson told AFP it worked
hard to defend freedom of speech around the world. “Over the
past few months, we’ve faced additional pressure from the government of Vietnam
to restrict more content, however, we will do everything we can to ensure that
our services remain available so people can continue to express themselves,” it
said. Google
and Vietnamese authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Vietnam Human Rights Network |