Vietnam decree prevents social media posts from linking to outside news reports

Unfortunately, decrees such as the one just approved in Vietnam are seemingly becoming more common, not less. Similar outcries were voiced after both Iran and Belarus laid down draconian laws about how their citizens were to interact with the internet, and now Vietnam is being shelled by residents and outsiders alike for a new decree that essentially bars the sharing of outside news. The specific verbiage states that "personal electronic sites" (such as Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) "are only allowed to put [sic] news owned by that person." In other words, sharing of information from "press organizations or government websites" is now outlawed, as is the act of providing "general information" on profiles and blogs. Exact punishments are apparently still being drafted, but whatever arises, you can bet that the Vietnamese government is going to take a huge amount of flack for crossing this line.

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Via: TechDirt

Source: Bangkok Post