Vietnam could give tech companies one year to obey new cybersecurity law

Bill would require tech companies to store data in the country, remove ‘toxic content’ from websites and hand over user information if asked

Any country in breach of the law could be barred from offering its services – from online payment systems to social networks – in Vietnam

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File photo of a man using Facebook on his phone at a cafe in Hanoi, Vietnam. Photo: EPA

Published: 9:50pm, 3 Nov 2018Updated: 9:50pm, 3 Nov 2018

Vietnam may give internet companies like Google and Facebook one year to comply with a controversial cybersecurity law, according to a draft decree that outlines how the draconian rule could be implemented.

The cybersecurity bill, which observers say mimic China’s repressive web control tools, is set to come into effect in January despite drawing sharp criticism from the US, the EU and internet freedom advocates.

Vietnamese dissident blogger with dual French citizenship was deported in June, 2017 after being stripped of his nationality. Photo: AFP

The bill would require tech companies to store data in the country, and remove “toxic content” from websites and hand over user information if asked by the government to do so.

Critics of the bill say it will be a chokehold on criticism in the one-party state where activists have been imprisoned and independent media banned.

According to a draft decree published by the Ministry of Public Security on Friday, companies offering internet services in Vietnam may be given 12 months to comply.