Facebook slammed in Vietnam by Reporters Without Borders for blocking posts critical of the government
- Vietnamese journalist Trung Khoa Le, who lives in Germany, contacted the group after four of his posts were blocked in Vietnam ‘due to local legal restrictions’
- One post linked to an article by German broadcaster ARD about a Vietnam hacker group who apparently spied on government critics in Germany.
Press freedom group Reporters Without Borders on Friday accused Facebook of blocking posts in Vietnam containing links to German media articles critical of the government.
Vietnamese journalist Trung Khoa Le, who lives in Germany, contacted the group after four of his posts were blocked in Vietnam “due to local legal restrictions” in mid-October, according to a statement.
Reporters Without Borders said the blocked posts contained links to an article in the German newspaper taz about reported involvement of a relative of the Vietnamese interior minister in drug smuggling.
Another post linked to an article by German broadcaster ARD about a hacker group from Vietnam who apparently spied on government critics in Germany.
A Facebook representative confirmed that some links are being blocked in Vietnam, adding that operating in the country over the past few months had been “a special challenge”.
Facebook seeks to have a constructive exchange with the governments of countries in which it operates, the spokesperson added, and aimed to defend freedom of expression worldwide.