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Vietnam's Force 47 is run by the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) to hack anti-government websites and spread pro-government messages online, and is believed to be at least 10,000-strong.
Anh Chi, the pen name of 46-year-old Nguyen Chi Tuyen, knows the ministry's tactics well. He has created videos criticising Force 47, and has expressed concern about the impact of a new cyber-law that came into effect at the beginning of the month.
The deadly January 9 incident in Dong Tam is a case in point.
According to the authorities, three police officers and 84-year-old village leader Le Dinh Kinh were killed after local residents clashed with police in the early hours of that day.
The dispute, over agricultural land next to a military airport, shocked the country. But afterwards, Vietnam's cyber-army, also known as Force 47, was deployed to counter the content on social media platforms deemed critical of the way the authorities handled the situation.
"Facebook is the main source of independent news now in Vietnam," said Trinh Huu Long, a co-founder of Legal Initiatives for Vietnam.
"The government has been working with Facebook to try to control content posted by dissidents and independent voices," he added.
Vietnam is said to be following China's lead in policing its citizens speech online. Is this going to become the global norm?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday January 17 2020, @10:47PM (18 children)
Yes, yes it is. And in nations that pretend to be ruled by the people it will be initially introduced in the guise of Hate Speech and other feel-good censorship. The government doesn't have to police you if they can get others to inform on you because you're Bad or if they can get you to censor yourself for them. You'll be just as silent though.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 17 2020, @11:16PM (4 children)
Not even touching on the fact that Vietnam is a Communist dictatorship that has to spend state resources on preventing any regular person gaining power.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 17 2020, @11:29PM (3 children)
Aaaah, I see.
Communist dictatorship. This happens in communist dictatorships, not elsewhere.
You have cast a great white light upon the matter to the ineffable enrichment of us all.
(Score: 0, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 18 2020, @12:39AM
Hey! SN is looking for fresh editors, right? Vietnam might be a good place to search!
#FreeAristarchus!!!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 18 2020, @03:24AM (1 child)
And as everyone knows, the solution to communist oppression is right wing fascism. Onward march!
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 18 2020, @02:57PM
Nah it's more communism, this time it'll work we promise
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Saturday January 18 2020, @01:03AM (10 children)
Spot on. Along with calls to refuse service to anyone who isn't "politically correct", red flag laws, gun confiscation, etc ad nauseum. The modern electronics age isn't all that different from ages past.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 18 2020, @03:11AM (4 children)
Discrimination based on political leanings will go to court and get ruled against. But as usual you are just conflsting refusal of service to an individual with political prejudice. Would be interesting to dig back to the bakers who wouldn't make a gay cake, I have the feeling you were defending their right to free association instesd of condemning their discrimination.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 18 2020, @03:21AM (1 child)
We can have red flag laws against racists, black people, drug addicts, conspiracy theorists and other anti-social undesirables, what's your point even?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 18 2020, @08:30AM
Uhhhh, just to be clear, in the United States, so-called "red flag laws" are a form of gun control which is designed to deprive legal gun owners of their right to own weapons. In a messy divorce, this will be a new revenge thing. Tell the cops that you're afraid your ex might shoot you, and they'll happily destroy his home in the search for weapons, and confiscate everything they find, no matter how trashy or how valuable. And, THERE IS NO DUE PROCESS!!
(Score: 1, Disagree) by khallow on Saturday January 18 2020, @06:06AM
Depends on who drives the discrimination. The US government (and all state governments) can't so discriminate, even by proxy. Keep in mind here that it's way too easy to do quid pro quo deals where a business provides such censorship in exchange for some of the many benefits a powerful government can provide. Those are just as illegal as if the US government discriminated directly.
It also depends on the conditions of the services provided. If the service provider is promising open communities or honoring free speech (which incidentally is an issue with almost all US universities), for example, then such discrimination may well be a case of false advertising or even a contract violation.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 18 2020, @03:56PM
There's a big nuance in that gay cake case that most don't understand.
It had nothing to do with whether or not you can refuse service to gays - you cannot. However, you also cannot be forced to engage in an expression that you disagree with. Imagine political views were a protected class to make this clear. And now imagine I go to Liberal Lisa's Commissioned Art Shop and ask her to paint something showing Trump as an awesome person. She could disagree because her right of protection against forced expression trumps the right of you to impose your will on her just because you're advocating for a protected class.
So the question the case was answering was, 'Are wedding cakes a form of artistic expression, or a normal commodity?' And no, 'expression' is not just a casual loophole to bypass all our little laws. It's pretty well defined and that wedding cakes were even a question shows how stringently it's interpreted. Wedding cake folks do style themselves as artists and customers pay a massive premium exclusively because it is generally seen as art. It's certainly not a normal commodity, yet the burden of proving it was an artistic expression was nonetheless left on the baker.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 18 2020, @03:26AM (4 children)
Any yet those opposed to "political correctness" are the ones who end up putting people in concentration camps.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 18 2020, @03:59AM
Do you mean re-education camps where inmates earn a living wage? Concentration camp is so politically incorrect.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 18 2020, @09:04AM (1 child)
That would be Pol Pot, Stalin, Mao, and some lesser socialist big names, along with some great Turkish examples, and let us not forget Hitler, the National Socialist. Yes, we can agree that socialist agendas are to be feared.
(Score: 2) by dry on Sunday January 19 2020, @05:58PM
Are they the ones who put the American Indians in re-education schools? Perhaps the ones who enslaved whoever they could?
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 18 2020, @04:42PM
Yes folks like Hitler, Mao, and Stalin were all well known for their warm embrace of free expression among their populations...
There's a good old USSR joke. Roosevelt says to Stalin, One great thing about America is that we have Freedom of Speech. Anybody could stand right in front of the White House, say "Roosevelt is a piece of shit" and nobody would care. Stalin responds, "Ah! Well we have freedom of speech in the USSR too. Anybody could stand right in front of the Kremlin, say "Roosevelt" is a piece of shit", and nobody would care at all!
What do you think political correctness is about? It's control. It's used to try to push political agendas by controlling what is said. This is not just a leftist thing either. For instance in the 80s the right was hardcore into political correctness. And anything that went against the platform would be condemned as being 'against family values'. In modern times the left has gone for kind of unhinged corporate globalism. In this world Islamic migrants are a big target. Hence the decision to start labeling any critique whatsoever against Islam is Islamophobia because, you know, there's absolutely no genuine critiques against Islam whatsoever. Same thing with stuff like relabeling illegal immigrant to 'undocumented migrants'. It's an effort to change language itself to try to breed support for a political ideology.
Needless to say, yes the folks who go on to do really nasty stuff tend to be huge fans of political correctness.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 18 2020, @03:08AM (1 child)
Somehow I don't think I'll lose sleep over hate speech laws. Richard Spencer(?) the KKK asshole is still proselytizing his hatred quite successfully. Wake me up when there is something beyond your paranoia to worry about.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday January 20 2020, @01:37PM
You should. That's how loss of liberty generally works. First they come for the scoundrels, then they start broadening the definition of "scoundrel". Any power you cede to the government will never come back to you without bloodshed and any power the government has it will abuse.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.