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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: 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.