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Facebook and Google are quick turning into “human rights-free zones” in Vietnam, Amnesty International warned Tuesday, accusing the tech titans of serving to censor peaceable dissent and political expression in the nation.
Communist Vietnam has lengthy jailed its critics however has come below hearth in latest years for concentrating on customers on Facebook, a preferred discussion board for activists in the nation the place all impartial media is banned.
The social community admitted earlier this yr that it was blocking content material deemed unlawful by authorities, whereas its newest transparency report revealed a virtually 1,000 p.c enhance in the content material it censors on authorities orders in comparison with the earlier six months.
Amnesty stated in a Tuesday report that it had interviewed 11 activists whose content material had been restricted from view in Vietnam by Facebook this yr.
The rights group additionally stated three others had comparable content material 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, stated Facebook had since May restricted every bit of content material he posted about Communist Party boss Nguyen Phu Trong and senior social gathering member Tran Quoc Vuong.
Trang additionally stated a few of his posts on controversial points corresponding to land disputes have been blocked from view in Vietnam by YouTube.
“I feel angry about it,” he informed 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 in opposition to the Party’
More than 53 million individuals use Facebook in Vietnam, accounting for over half the inhabitants. The platform can also be a vital advertising device for native enterprise.
Vietnam is now the largest nation by income for Facebook and Google in Southeast Asia, based on business specialists.
But Amnesty warned that whereas they have been “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 stated final month that tech corporations have been complying with requests to take away “bad information, propaganda against the Party and the State” at the next charge than ever, based on state media.
The identical article reported that this yr Facebook complied with 95 p.c of the federal government’s requests whereas YouTube complied with 90 p.c.
A Facebook spokesperson informed AFP it labored onerous to defend freedom of speech all over 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 stated.
Google and Vietnamese authorities didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
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(This story has not been edited by Newslivenation workers and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)