IP Democracy: Vietnam and China: Two Sides of the Censorship Coin

The BBC’s Kate McGeown has this well-done piece on how the Vietnamese government is embracing the Internet and placing few restrictions on its citizens’ web-related activities, or at least far fewer restrictions than another nearby Communist country, China. Internet use is rapidly growing in Vietnam, with users free to read foreign newspaper web sites and the government actively pushing Internet access out to post offices and community centers throughout the country.

Despite progress, the Vietnamese government still tries to crack down on the publication of what it considers dissident material.

This new freedom is something the government is struggling to come to terms with, because while it is keen to be an outward-looking regime, it remains a one-party state that does not tolerate opposing views.

While the authorities appear to have sacrificed a certain amount of control over the general public’s internet habits, it is a very different story for the few people who openly criticise the regime.

But authorities are obviously not cracking down too hard because McGeown paints a picture of technology trumping authoritarianism.

Even if the authorities manage to block their websites and forums inside Vietnam, the content they produce will still reach the outside world.

The government has been trying various ways to restrict dissidents’ use of the internet, particularly since an online anti-government petition was published earlier this year, which many people signed.

But as is often the case, the authorities’ efforts at control are not keeping pace with advances in technology.

Nguyen Van Dai said dissidents were increasingly using voice over internet protocol providers, such as Skype or Yahoo Messenger, instead of email, because it is much more difficult to trace.

Vietnam stands in stark contrast to China, which gets spookier by the minute. Yesterday the Chinese Ministry of Culture slapped limits on Internet music, ruling that imported music must be distributed by “legal units” or organizations and companies approved by the government.

The Ministry also banned the establishment of foreign-funded network [i.e. Internet or mobile-phone distributed] entertainment firms. On top of that, the government has imposed heavy controls on the gaming business out of fear that some games might feature forbidden religious or political material. All game distributors must obtain approval to release new games and submit monthly monitoring reports attesting to the lack of forbidden content in their games.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on December 12, 2006 11:39 PM to IP Democracy