It has been confirmed that Vietnamese legislators have approved a cyber security law on Tuesday that tightens control of the internet and global tech companies operating in the country.
The law was approved on Tuesday by Vietnam’s parliament which bans internet users in Vietnam from organizing people for “anti-state purposes” and contains sweeping language under which users would not be allowed to “distort history” or “negate the nation’s revolutionary achievements”. Causing religious offence or discriminating on the basis of gender or race is also prohibited.
The cyber law, which takes effect on Jan. 1, 2019, requires Facebook, Google and other global technology firms to store locally “important” personal data on users in Vietnam and open offices there.
Under the law, social media companies in Vietnam are required to remove offending content from their platforms within one day of receiving a request from the authorities.
About 55 million Vietnamese are regular social media users, according to a 2018 global digital report by the media consulting firm We Are Social, and Hootsuite, a social media management firm. Vietnam ranked seventh among active Facebook-using countries, the report said, while its economic hub, Ho Chi Minh City, was number 10 among cities with active Facebook users.
