Vietnam Mandates Social Network User Identification..."Enhanced censorship" Criticism

Vietnam mandates identification of various SNS users.

According to AFP, SNS users such as Facebook and TikTok must identify themselves under the new law, which will take effect on the 25th in Vietnam.

SNS operators must store user data such as name, date of birth, and phone number and provide it when requested by authorities.

Until now, Facebook and TikTok have not required Vietnamese users to identify themselves.

The Vietnamese government has been pushing for stricter regulations, saying that SNS is often abused for online fraud crimes and that users of transnational platforms cannot be tracked even if they violate the law.

The majority of the Vietnamese population is using SNS.

Authorities estimate there are 65 million Facebook users and 60 million YouTube users.

Criticism has also been raised that the move violates freedom of expression and strengthens online censorship.

Human Rights Watch (HRW), an international human rights organization, called for "the abolition of harsh new laws that threaten access to information and freedom of expression."

The Vietnamese Communist Party has controlled critical public opinion, and in recent years, there have been cases of arresting anti-government activists working around social media.

Critics point out that identification of SNS users increases the risk of arresting dissidents who write anonymously.