Facebook a 'propaganda tool' for Vietnam government: activists
AFP | 2021-10-26
Facebook in
Vietnam has turned into a propaganda tool of the country's authoritarian
government, activists told AFP Tuesday, after a report said CEO Mark Zuckerberg
had personally signed off on a push from Hanoi to limit "anti-state" posts. The
social networking giant has in recent years been a popular forum for activists
in the communist nation, where all independent media is banned, but officials
have begun to come under fire for targeting critics on the platform. Facebook
"has maltreated activists while eliminating free speech, turning itself into a
media tool for the Communist Party of Vietnam," said Huynh Ngoc Chenh, one of
Vietnam's most influential bloggers who focuses on democracy and human rights
issues. Facebook
already said last year that it was blocking content deemed illegal by
authorities. But the
Washington Post reported Zuckerberg personally made the decision to agree to
Hanoi's demands, rather than risk getting knocked offline in one of its most
important Asian markets. Asked by
AFP about the report, a Facebook spokesperson declined to comment. However,
they said that the social media giant had restricted some content in Vietnam "to
help ensure our services remain available for millions of people who rely on
them every day". More than
53 million people use Facebook in Vietnam, accounting for over half the
population. Activist
Chenh said his account had been blocked twice, for a month each time, over a
"violation of community standards" but he was not told which posts were at
fault. Two posts
criticising the government's pandemic response were also restricted from view,
he said. Nguyen
Tuan Khanh, a prominent musician and activist who has regularly criticised the
government, told AFP many Vietnamese were "disappointed to see Facebook choose
profit" over values associated with the United States, "a country that chose
democracy and freedom". He said
campaigners had used Facebook to try to spread democratic ideas, and had
organised demonstrations via the platform. But "one
day we recognised that Facebook also helps the Vietnamese police to block voices
of truth", he said, adding that many dissidents now thought of Facebook as being
good for entertainment only. The
activists' comments come after Amnesty International warned in a report late
last year that Facebook -- along with Google -- were fast becoming "human
rights-free zones" in Vietnam. The
report said Vietnam was the biggest country by revenue for Facebook in Southeast
Asia.
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