Congressional Briefing on Media Freedom in Vietnam: Remarks by Vietnam-based Bloggers

Share on facebook
Share on google
Share on twitter
Share on whatsapp
Share on email
Share on print
Share on facebook
Share on google
Share on twitter
Share on whatsapp
Share on email
Share on print

On April 29, 2014 Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (CA-46) and Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (CA-19), co-chairs of the Congressional Caucus on Vietnam, hosted a congressional briefing to discuss Vietnam’s oppressive media environment. Featured speakers included Libby Liu (President of Radio Free Asia), Bob Dietz (Asia Program Coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists), and Do Hoang Diem (Chairman of Viet Tan).

Six independent journalists, bloggers, and digital activists gave testimonies of their day-to-day experiences with repression, Internet controls, and police harassment.


April 29, 2014

Vietnam-based bloggers and digital activists:
Ngo Nhat Dang, BBC contributor and independent journalist
Le Thanh Tung (Anthony Le), independent journalist
Nguyen Dinh Ha, blogger and digital activist
Nguyen Thi Kim Chi, playwright and actress
Nguyen Tuong Thuy, blogger
To Oanh, independent journalist

The status of media freedom in Vietnam – Independent journalist To Oanh

I am a retired school teacher. Previously I was a contributor for state media where I tried to expose problems in society and offer suggestions for improving the educational curriculum.

Over time, newspapers in Vietnam have lost readership as the contents have worsened. The intervention of the Communist Party’s Propaganda Committee, and the monthly meetings it convenes with all the editors-in-chief, have diminished the distinctiveness of each newspaper and made these media outlets wary of covering any kind of “sensitive” news. Hence, state-owned newspapers have focused on sensational but largely meaningless stories. No newspaper really touches on big national issues.

With the development of the Internet, I have become a citizen journalist, writing for other websites and my own blog. Since 2007, I have published my writings on forums such as Diendan, Vietcatholic, Boxitvn under the penname Tran Tu Ha or my own name. These pieces focus on the realities of society. As a result, the public security started following me and accusing me of receiving money from abroad to tarnish the image of the regime. Along with my participation in public protests against China’s territorial encroachment on Vietnam, the public security has repeatedly harassed and interrogated me, including once for 17 days straight.

The role of blogs in social progress – Blogger Nguyen Tuong Thuy

In Vietnam, the media is managed by the state. This strict censorship results in a product that is detached from reality and degrades the skills of journalists.

However, the rapid growth of the internet has lead to the development of a new media online (and I’m not referring here to the websites of state-owned media). The blogosphere has provided readers with multiple perspectives and viewpoints for freedom, democracy and human rights. While many bloggers have had to pay a high price for utilizing this new medium, the repression and restrictions by the authorities has been unable to stop the rapid growth of social media.

Social media in Vietnam has taken the form of websites, blogs and Facebook with the advantage of timely coverage on issues that really matter to people’s lives. At a time when readers have become bored with the one-way reporting of state media, social media is filling their needs. Blogs have become a challenger to state newspapers, forcing them to change they way they write and cover the news.

I strongly believe the Vietnamese government must loosen its censorship. It must allow private newspapers and broadcasts to operate and publish. In the long run, there must be a pluralistic political system with separation of powers to truly safeguard freedom of the press and other basic human rights.

A High Price To Pay – Independent journalist Le Thanh Tung

Many writers and bloggers who have exposed the ills and problems of society have been handed harsh prison sentences for their actions: Nguyen Van Hai (Dieu Cay), Le Van Son, Tran Minh Nhat, Dang Xuan Dieu, Ta Trong Tan, Truong Duy Nhat, Pham Viet Dao, Le Quoc Quan, and many others whose names I’ve attached to my testimony.

Furthermore, at the same time that these men and women are serving their sentences, their families are also enduring harassment and intimidation from authorities, resulting in unconscionable and tragic circumstances. A notable case involves the mother of Ta Phong Tan who, in protest of her daughter’s wrongful imprisonment and harsh treatment, carried out the horrific act of self-immolation. In the instance of Le Van Son, he was not even informed that his mother had become ill and passed away while he was behind bars.

For those writers and bloggers not yet imprisoned, their daily lives are dotted with acts of harassment, intimidation and, at times, physical beatings, such as the case of journalist Huyen Trang (VRNs), who was jailed and beaten in the course of covering political trials against freelance journalists in 2012.

Public security thugs illegally broke into the home of blogger Nguyen Tuong Thuy in late September 2013, beating and detaining him.

As for myself, I was fired by my employer under pressure from the public security apparatus and barred from making a living, leaving my family to live under tenuous circumstances.

The limits of artistic expression in Vietnam – Playwright and actress Nguyen Thi Kim Chi

In Vietnam, content creators face serious consequences when they touch certain topics and are quickly branded as “subversives”. And when you are considered a subversive, you lose all your freedoms and economic interests and often your friends as well. No newspaper or publishing house will dare to publish your work and hence the artist lives under depredation. Artists and musicians in the “Nhan Van Giai Pham” movement such as Tran Dan, Le Dat, Phung Quan, Van Cao are examples of people whose freedom of expression was taken away.

Today, restrictions over freedom of expression have not changed and are often even heavier. For example the poet Bui Minh Quoc dared to speak the truth and as result was expelled from the Communist Party, lost his sources of income, and was placed under house arrest. His family also faced retribution.

I have chosen to speak up.

All the suffering of victims of government corruption, the repression of media freedom, the restrictions against demonstrations against Chinese encroachment have motivated me to speak out. I have been called all sorts of names as a result: “Selling out the nation for dollars”, “subversive”, “working with the enemy”, “lackey” and a “dog”.

But I am not afraid. I am committed to walking forward with my people to demand a life of freedom, equality, fraternity, prosperity, and reconciliation.

Internet freedom in Vietnam and recommendations – Blogger Nguyen Dinh Ha

With the Internet, we have our own world of information, where people can freely express and share anything. However, in Vietnam, these basic freedoms are under threat by the government, as it wants to control all sources of information that is contrary to the interests of the state.

A case in point is that the Vietnamese government issued Decree 72/2013/ND-CP to control Internet service providers and restrict citizens from sharing news. Under vague legal pretexts, the Vietnamese authorities have detained and convicted numerous people in recent years for expressing their views on social media. These actions hinder transparency, directly harm the international image of Vietnam, and impede efforts to tackle corruption and other problems facing the country.

Hence, I’d like to offer the following recommendations for the US Congress:

First, compel the Vietnamese government to honor its international obligations on human rights, to dismantle its censorship apparatus and to cease its persecution against journalists and netizens.

Second, urge the Vietnamese government to open up the media market in the country and allow for a truly independent press.

Together, we must raise our voice — Independent Journalist Ngo Nhat Dang

Simply for wishing for a life of honesty, with the desire to speak the truth, so many of our people, friends and family, have been oppressed and attacked, have been imprisoned, some have even lost their lives.

We want to escape this grim reality, we want the freedom to speak up about the truth. We also know that the government of Vietnam has signed onto the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which protects freedom of expression and freedom of the press.

We also believe that, within our abilities and with international support in calling attention to issues of freedom of expression and freedom of press in Vietnam, this issue can be turned into a US House Resolution.

In TPP negotiations with the Vietnamese government, we call on the American government to leverage human rights and in particular, freedom of speech.

Please help and support us, not simply with your empathy but also your conscience and responsibility for a peaceful and progressive world. Please stand with the people of my country!

A democratic Vietnam is in the interest of all of us.

Share on facebook
Share on google
Share on twitter
Share on whatsapp
Share on email
Share on print

LATEST ARTICLES