New report on internet filtering in vietnam

David A Biggs <david.biggs@ucr.edu>

date Jan 11, 2007 8:24 AM

subject [Vsg] fyi: new report on internet filtering in vietnam

For those interested in reports on the internet in Vietnam, I heard a

recent podcast of PRI's "The World" (#115) where they interview John

Paulfrey (Harvard Law School) who co-authored a new report. You can

find the complete report on Open Net Initiative's web site:

http://www.opennetinitiative.org/

and the "technology" podcasts (#115) of The World can be found at:

http://www.theworld.org/?q=taxonomy/term/5

The general conclusion is that while Vietnam has a very extensive

censorship program online, there is a a relatively open debate in

government on these policies. Here's the ONI summary:

"In a recently issued report, ONI finds an increase in Internet

censorship in Vietnam. Drawing from technical, legal, and political sources, ONI’s

research finds that the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is focusing its

filtering on sites considered threatening to its one-party system.

Furthermore, the technical sophistication, breadth, and effectiveness

of Vietnam’s filtering are increasing with time. Similar to China, Vietnam

has taken a multi-layered approach to controlling the Internet; Vietnam

applies technical controls, the law, and education to restrict its citizens’

access to and use of information. Vietnam is carrying out this filtering with

a notable lack of transparency - while Vietnam claims its blocking

efforts are aimed at safeguarding the country against obscene or sexually

explicit content, most of its filtering efforts target sites with politically or

religiously sensitive material that could undermine Vietnam’s one-party

system. This is the latest in a series of case studies that address

Internet filtering by states worldwide."