FINANCIAL TIMES

8-1-19

Vietnam accuses Facebook of breaking cyber security laws

John Reed

Vietnam has accused Facebook of failing to take down “slanderous content” and said it was considering withholding money for some advertising paid to the social media site, in the first significant sign of a crackdown on a foreign technology giant under a restrictive new cyber-security law. 

At a briefing in Hanoi on Tuesday, the communist-ruled country’s Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information accused the social media site of violating Vietnamese law in its management of online content, advertising, and tax liabilities.

According to reports on state-controlled media, the body said that Ministry of Information and Communications said it was considering preventing cash from flowing into “hatred advertising” on the social media site, and withholding taxes to deal with what it said were violations of Vietnamese law. 

It claimed that Facebook had allowed users to post “slanderous content, anti-government sentiment and libel and defamation of individuals, organisations and state agencies” in violation of the cyber-security law, which took effect on January 1, as well as other Vietnamese legislation.

The ABEI claimed that the company had delayed taking down content, saying it did not violate the site’s community standards, or provide information on “fraudulent accounts” to state security authorities. 

Facebook was not immediately available for comment on the remarks. 

In Vietnam, one of Asia’s fast-growing economies, Facebook is the second most-used site after Google, and serves as a key conduit for political discourse in a one-party state.

Vietnam wants to rein in the power of the company, and other foreign tech giants, through the new law, which requires foreign companies with an online presence to store data locally and open an office in Vietnam.

Internet companies have warned the law will stifle investment, hinder the growth of Vietnam’s digital economy, and hurt both foreign and Vietnamese companies. They are also resisting Vietnam’s demand that they open local offices and store data locally, which they say is impractical and worry would compromise their operations and community standards.