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posted by Fnord666 on Tuesday June 12 2018, @07:45PM   Printer-friendly
from the the-more-you-tighten-your-grip dept.

Vietnam wants more control of its internet.

Vietnam is taking a leaf out of China's book when it comes to regulating the internet.

Legislators in Vietnam have approved a law requiring global tech firms with operations in the country to keep user data there, Reuters reported Tuesday. In addition, social media companies like Facebook will have to remove offending content from their platforms within one day of receiving a request from authorities.

An estimated 55 million people in Vietnam use social media regularly and the country is home to some of Facebook's most active users, ranking at seventh worldwide, according to a 2018 global digital report. Vietnam already has existing laws penalising anyone guilty of "propaganda against the state."

[...] There's no timeline given yet as to when the new law will kick in. Still, people are concerned it will stifle free expression in Vietnam.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 12 2018, @07:50PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 12 2018, @07:50PM (#692082)

    At least according to the summary it sounds like Vietnam is trying to protect its users instead of control them. Since they already have a law regarding propaganda against the state there is no need for anything further. Woops, just thought it through, having the data retained within the country makes it quite a bit easier for government goons to search through it without requiring the help of US authorities or wherever the data may be.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 12 2018, @07:57PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 12 2018, @07:57PM (#692084)

      This law calls for companies like Google and Facebook to store data in Vietnam for Vietnamese people. Presumably the Vietnamese government would then have free access to it!

      Would I be right in thinking that Facebook and Google wouldn't comply with this new law, and get blocked instead, like in China! Or will they spread cheeks and ram cock in fucking ass!

      And how would it be determined who is a Vietnamese user! If I've never been to Vietnam but talk to Vietnamese people on Facebook, could the Vietnamese government get access to my data in the event that Facebook complies with these laws!

      • (Score: 4, Informative) by Mykl on Tuesday June 12 2018, @11:18PM

        by Mykl (1112) on Tuesday June 12 2018, @11:18PM (#692144)

        I don't live in Vietnam, but I would much rather that FB, Google etc be required to keep my data within my own country than on servers accessible to the US government. Over the past 10 years the US government has been shown to have abused access to this sort of thing more than any other government in the world.

        True, the fact that this information will now be easily accessible to the Vietnamese government is a 'problem', but for most democracies, it's a better option for their citizens.

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Thexalon on Tuesday June 12 2018, @08:27PM (4 children)

    by Thexalon (636) on Tuesday June 12 2018, @08:27PM (#692089)

    Instead of the government censoring the Internet, the US is busy changing the rules to allow Comcast, Spectrum (formerly Time Warner), and AT&T to do the censoring with absolutely no accountability to anyone. Hooray for Freedom!

    --
    The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 12 2018, @08:44PM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 12 2018, @08:44PM (#692098)

      Kick them back to common carrier status where they don't snoop on user traffic and act like dumb pipes. Let the government hunt down illegal activity the hard way.

      I'd like to hear some of those Net Neutrality opponents chime in here and explain how this is all just the market balancing itself out....

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 12 2018, @10:34PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 12 2018, @10:34PM (#692122)

        I haven't read beyond TFS however it seems the new law is about where the data is stored, not the ISP. For example, companies like Facebook would be required to maintain servers in Vietnam and store user data for any of it's Vietnam users there, presumably giving the Vietnam government easier access to those accounts and greater censorship powers.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 12 2018, @11:03PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 12 2018, @11:03PM (#692132)

        Kick them back to common carrier status where they don't snoop on user traffic and act like dumb pipes.

        We will never get dumb pipes while the ISP acts as the government's internet gatekeeper. We have to circumvent and get rid of the ISP entirely. There is no other way it can possibly happen.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 13 2018, @03:08AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 13 2018, @03:08AM (#692201)

          I like the suggestion of BBSes in the metathread.

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