Vietnam puts pressure on companies such as Facebook and Google
The Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security has published a draft decree on its website earlier this November that shall come into effect on January 1st, 2019.
International internet companies like Facebook and Google shall, for instance, be obliged to store at least 36 months of local users’ data in Vietnam.
The law also intends to ban any use of social media when it comes to organizing anti-state activities, spreading false information or creating difficulties for authorities.
The new legal requirements have sparked off a widespread controversy among Vietnamese institutions such as bipartisan members of the government.
Main concerns are that communist authorities may then be granted access to private data and even have an impact on online free speech.
Google and Facebook have not stated any comments as of yet.
