26 Oct 10 | Index Index, minipost
A political blogger was arrested on Monday. Phan Thanh Hai, who blogs as Saigon Brother Three, was taken from his home in Ho Chi Minh after a police raid. His wife says that he has been detained for the “publication of false information”. Another blogger, Nguyen Van Hai, who had reached the end of his two and a half year prison sentence for tax evasion, has been hit with new charges. He is now accused of campaigning against the one-party communist state.
25 Jun 10 | Index Index, minipost
The BBC and Facebook websites have been partially blocked. The news comes just a month after the authorities began installing tracking software on publicly accessible computers in Vietnam. The software is designed to track user’s activity for 30 days. Local reports suggest that the software has been installed to monitor the number of people accessing digital content discussing democracy, justice, peace and freedom, issues which are counter to the political objectives of the communist state. Internet users in Ho Chi Minh City told the Asia News agency that the government was attempting to block all “radical” sites.
01 Apr 10 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized
Google’s Security blog has revealed that a number of malicious malware attacks on Vietnamese computers have been specifically designed to spy on and target “blogs containing messages of political dissent”. Google described this example of internet hacktivism as a direct attempt to “squelch opposition” to a Chinese-backed bauxite mining project in Vietnam which has divided public opinion.
15 Dec 09 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
Blogger and pro-democracy activist Nguyen Tien Trung is facing the death penalty after being charged with “trying to overthrow the government” and is due to be tried at the end of the month. Trung was arrested in July on a charge of propaganda against the state which related to blogs he had posted including an open letter to the government on education policy. According to his father he is now facing the more serious charge of “subverting the people’s administration”. His supporters believe the charges are intended to intimidate students who are calling for more press freedom. Read more here
