Vietnam has accused Facebook Inc of contravening a new cybersecurity law by refusing to scrub anti-government content from its site, the first reprimand since the controversial bill came into effect days ago.
The law, which came into force on Tuesday last week and has drawn criticism from the US, the EU and Web freedom groups, requires Internet companies to remove “toxic content” and hand over user data when requested by authorities.
It also stipulates that companies should host servers in the one-party state — including banks and e-commerce companies — sparking fears of data and privacy breaches, and cybersecurity threats.
State broadcaster Vietnam Television (VTV) yesterday reported that Facebook failed to take down pages allegedly calling for anti-government activities, citing requests from the Vietnamese Ministry of Information and Communications.
The ministry sent several letters and e-mails requesting the removals, the report said.
However, Facebook “delayed and even failed to remove information, claiming the information did not breach community standards,” VTV reported.
Vietnam also accused the company of hosting advertisements for “illegal products,” including counterfeit money, fake goods, weapons and firecrackers, the report said.
The ministry could not be reached for comment.
The consequences for contravening the law are expected to be laid out in a decree that has yet to be made public.
Vietnam has said the bill is designed to improve cybersecurity in the country, but critics say the legislation — which mirrors China’s draconian Internet rules — is aimed at silencing online dissent.
In a statement, Facebook said it is “transparent about the content restrictions we make pursuant with local law in our Transparency Report.”
“We have a clear process for governments to report illegal content to us, and we review all these requests against our terms of service and local law,” a spokeswoman said.
Social media is a crucial platform for activists in communist Vietnam, where all independent press and public protests are banned.
Facebook is by far the most popular tool for activists, though several have complained in recent months that posts have disappeared and accounts have been blocked.
Unlike in China, social media and instant messaging services such as WhatsApp are not banned, and analysts say the cybersecurity law is a means to control online expression without banning services — a move that would likely cause a widespread outcry.
There are more than 53 million Facebook users in Vietnam — more than half of the population — many of whom use the site as a crucial platform for business and commerce.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure