Vietnam keeps eye on internet

2004-07-21 10:45

Hanoi - Vietnam has stepped up efforts to control the internet, instructing internet service providers to terminate contracts with cyber-cafes that allow customers to access pornographic or anti-government websites.

The directive, issued by Minister of Post and Telecommunications Do Trung Ta on Monday, is the latest in a string of measures unveiled in recent months to prevent "bad and poisonous information" being circulated online.

This latest regulation requires the communist nation's seven state-owned internet service providers to disconnect cyber-cafes if they allow clients to access forbidden websites, state media reported.

Cafe owners are also instructed to monitor their customers' use of the web for any violations of government regulations, such as distributing viruses and accessing pornographic sites or those that "threaten national security".

Hanoi is determined to prevent pro-democracy advocates using the internet to communicate and voice their opposition to the government. Earlier this month two elderly dissidents were jailed for using the web to criticise the regime.

International human rights groups have accused the government of using national security as a pretext to silence all dissent.

In May, the government ordered ministries and agencies to "tighten state management to prevent the exploitation and the circulation of bad and poisonous information on the internet".

It authorised strict punishment for offenders, and local authorities were instructed to conduct regular inspections of internet cafes and websites.

The public security ministry in March also issued tough new laws governing the use of the web.

Only around four million people out of a population of 81 million people regularly surf the internet in Vietnam, mainly through cyber-cafes.

- AFP