January 6, 2015

Ruling Communist Party Asks Vietnam Government to Uproot Violating Blogs ahead of National Congress

by • [Human Rights]

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The ruling Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) has asked its government to remove any Vietnamese blogs that violate regulations on content and operation required by local authorities.
 The move is aimed at controlling any content that defames the leadership, harming the “great solidarity or causes negative impacts on the public trust in the leadership,” the CPV said on its website.
By KTT, Vu Quoc Ngu | Jan 06, 2015
The ruling Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) has asked its government to remove any Vietnamese blogs that violate regulations on content and operation required by local authorities.
The move is aimed at controlling any content that defames the leadership, harming the “great solidarity or causes negative impacts on the public trust in the leadership,” the CPV said on its website.
The message comes at a time when many blogs are posting information of senior state officials that have never been unveiled, drawing a large number of readers.
Recently, there has appeared a blog smearing Deputy Prim Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, a solid candidate to replace incumbent Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in next term, following several unofficial portals that contain information slandering senior state officials, causing public discontent. These blogs are runned by those who get sources from high-ranking officials, said Hanoi-based observers.
Over the past few months, local police arrested some prominent bloggers who posted information raising concerns over the country’s existing issues, including socio-economic mismanagement and rampant corruption, or Chinese expansionism.
Local authorities have blocked information portals that “violate law” but a number of unofficial blogs disclosing private information of some senior officials remain exist, showing signs of a power struggle among top leaders.
Earlier, Minister of Defense Phung Quang Thanh and Minister of Public Security Tran Dai Quang urged the government to tighten control over online information that aims to slander leaders, mostly ahead of the 12th Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) in 2016.
Vietnam was listed among countries “Enemy of the Internet” by the Reporters Without Borders. The communist country ranked 174th out of 180 nations in the press freedom index for 2014.
According to the Human Rights Watch, Vietnam is holding between 150 and 200 activists and bloggers who are exercising their basic rights.
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