Vietnam activists accuse Facebook of suppressing dissent in the communist country
Hanoi — Vietnamese human rights activists and independent media groups have written to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, asking whether the social media platform helps suppress dissent in the communist country. The letter, released on Tuesday by US-based human rights group Viêt Tân and signed by nearly 50 other groups, said Facebook’s system of automatically pulling content if enough people complained could "silence human rights activists and citizen journalists in Vietnam". Despite sweeping economic reform in Vietnam, and increasing openness toward social change, including gay, lesbian and transgender rights, the ruling Communist Party retains tight media censorship and does not tolerate criticism. Last year, Vietnam unveiled a 10,000-strong military cyber-warfare unit, named Force 47, to counter "wrong" views on the internet. The open letter to Zuckerberg called Force 47 "state-sponsored trolls" which it accused of exploiting Facebook’s community policies and disseminating fake news a...
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