A law requiring internet companies in Vietnam to remove content communist authorities deem to be against the state came into effect Tuesday, in a move critics called “a totalitarian model of information control”.
The new cybersecurity law has received sharp criticism from the US, the EU and internet freedom advocates who say it mimics China’s repressive censorship of the internet.
The law requires internet companies to remove content the government regards as “toxic”.
Tech giants such as Facebook and Google will also have to hand over user data if asked by the government, and open representative offices in Vietnam.
The communist country’s powerful Ministry of Public Security (MPS) published a draft decree on how the law may be implemented in November, giving companies which offer internet service in Vietnam up to 12 months to comply.
MPS has also said the bill was aimed at staving off cyber-attacks—and weeding out “hostile and reactionary forces” using the internet to stir up violence and dissent, according to a transcript of a question-and-answer session with lawmakers in October.
