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From VOA Learning English, |
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this is the Technology Report. |
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Internet activists and human rights groups |
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are criticising a decree that is set |
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to go into effect in Vietnam on September 1st. |
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The order says blogs and social media sites in Vietnam |
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should be used only to share personal information. |
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It aims to ban social media users and bloggers |
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from posting other information, such as news stories. |
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Local media reports say the decree states that such sites |
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are "not allowed to quote, gather or summarize information |
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from press organizations or government websites." |
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Prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung approved decree 72 in July. |
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Internet activists say this is an attempt |
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by the communist government to further restrict freedom of speech. |
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Rights groups say the decree's requirements are overly broad |
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and will be used to act against government critics. |
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Others criticized a statement by Le Nam Thang, |
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the Deputy Minister of Information and Communications. |
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State media reported him of saying that the law aims |
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to help web users "find correct and clean information on the Internet." |
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But blogger Huynh Ngoc Chenh says that is a matter of personal choice. |
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She says, People should be able to decide for themselves |
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whether information is good or bad. |
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And she says, Vietnamese citizens do not need |
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the government to coach them on how to think. |
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The decree sets out very broad categories of speech |
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that officials could consider as troublesome. |
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It includes warnings about information |
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that is against Vietnam or undermines certain principles. |
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Shawn Crispin is the southeast Asia representative |
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for the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ. |
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He says the increased restrictions suggest |
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that the government thinks it has lost control of criticism |
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that is so widespread on social media. |
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"The campaign has indeed intensified over the last year. |
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Authorities seem to be using the tactic of singling out individual |
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critical bloggers as a way of sending a signal to the larger community |
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that this will not be tolerated." |
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It is unclear how the government means |
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to enforce such widespread restrictions, |
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and there is no word on what punishment |
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would be given to those who break the law. |
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But the deputy director for the Asia division at Human Watch, |
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Phil Robertson says widespread enforcement |
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may not be necessary to gain the government's desire to effect. |
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"This is a law that has been established for selective persecution," |
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he says, "this is a law that will be used against certain people |
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who have become a thorn in the side of the authorities in Hanoi." |
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And that's the Technology Report from VOA Learning English. |
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I'm Jim Tedder. |
