Vietnam extensively regulates Internet access to its citizens, using both legal and technical means. The collaborative project OpenNet Initiative classifies Vietnam's level of online political censorship to be 'pervasive' while Reporters without Borders considers Vietnam one of 15 'internet enemies'.
Social Networking
The popular social networking website Facebook has about 1 million users in Vietnam and its user base has been growing quickly after the website added a Vietnamese language interface. During the week of November 16, 2009, Vietnamese Facebook users reported being unable to access the website. Acess had been intermitten in the previous weeks and there were reports of technicians ordered by the goverment to block access to Facebook.
Blogging
In Vietnam , Yahoo 360 is a popular blogging service. After the government crackdown on journalists reporting on corruption in mid-2008, many blogs covered the events, often criticizing the government action. In response, the Ministry of Information proposed new rules that would restrict blogs to personal matters. Global Voices Advocacy maintains a list of bloggers who have been arrested for their views expressed online.
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