No Freedom of Speech in Communist Vietnam

[eyer]

Vietnam 'arrests popular blogger'

Published: 27 May 2013 at 11.49
Online news: Asia

A prominent Vietnamese blogger has been arrested for posting articles critical of the communist government, reports said Monday, in the latest crackdown on dissent in the authoritarian country.

Truong Duy Nhat, 49, was detained Sunday at his home in the coastal city of Danang and escorted to Vietnam's capital Hanoi for questioning, the state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper said.

He stands accused of "abusing democratic freedoms to infringe on the interests of the state", a charge that could bring a maximum seven years in jail, the report said.

Nhat, who had worked for Vietnam's official press but quit in 2011, writes the popular blog "A Different Viewpoint".

His blog, "offering an alternative perspective" on news events from the staid official press, propelled him to nationwide recognition and "often attracted heated debate", the state-run Thanh Nien newspaper reported.

It has not been possible to access his blog -- which frequently dealt with highly sensitive political issues -- since his arrest.

In a late April post, Nhat called for Vietnam's top leaders to resign, saying "it's time for a new party general secretary and prime minister" to save the nation from its economic and political woes.

Vietnam's many bloggers reacted strongly to Nhat's arrest, with one, Huynh Ngoc Chenh, writing that Nhat was a fiercely independent commentator who was likely detained after angering those in power.

"His frank and strong criticism is hard to take on board, especially for people in leadership positions, and it could generate hatred towards him," Chenh wrote on his personal blog.

Another online commentator, writing under the name Nam Mo, called Nhat's arrest "a harsh blow on our fledging democracy" and said it should be a wake up call to all Internet activists.

"Nhat will not be the only victim of this authoritarian government, unless Vietnamese bloggers learn how to unite even when they don't know each other," he wrote.

Vietnam bans private media, with all newspapers and television channels state-run. Lawyers, bloggers and activists are regularly subject to arbitrary arrest and detention, according to rights groups.

In February journalist Nguyen Dac Kien was fired from his state-run newspaper after criticising the head of the ruling Communist Party on his personal blog.

So far in 2013, at least 38 activists have been convicted of anti-state activity under what rights groups say are vaguely defined articles of the penal code.

Thanks to:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/352019/vietnam-arrests-popular-blogger

And heartfelt gratitude on this Memorial Day...

...to the over 53K Americans who fought and died trying to prevent such blatantly oppressive statism.

 

[hsnh]

I'm listening to a youtube vid. with Jordan Paterson, and he just made this startling comment:
That he met recently met with the top 10 Canadian journalists, and :

"Every single one of them [top 10 Canadian journalists] told me that they were censoring themselves.
That's no joke man, in a country like this, where you'd think that hese people have power. And they're bloody afraid of being hung out to dry, if they say the wrong thing. And also that they were censored by their editors.
You think where our country is, (in a country that has a great tradition of freedom of speech and press) when the 10 most powerful journalists in the country are afraid to write and say what they think." That's a bad diagnostic sign."


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3PrJgHRkWi8


ETA
Oops. I was referring to Jonathan Haidt, not Jordan Peterson.

 

[Hypoxia]

And heartfelt gratitude on this Memorial Day...

...to the over 53K Americans who fought and died trying to prevent such blatantly oppressive statism.

Didn't see this earlier, sorry. Anyway, my fellow veterans, casualties in VietNam and vicinity, were wounded and killed to further USA access to IndoChinese resources, masked by the bogus "domino theory" of collapsing regimes. It was all about oil and minerals. Follow the money.

More than a few US allied states with troops in Nam weren't exactly bastions of free speech then either.

...he just made this startling comment:
That he met recently met with the top 10 Canadian journalists, and :

"Every single one of them [top 10 Canadian journalists] told me that they were censoring themselves.

I don't uTube so you'll have to fill me in. How many of these journos work for private firms and keep their jobs by reporting what their bosses want, not what they themselves would like presented? That's self-censorship. How many expressed fear of gov't reaction to their un-self-censored reports?

Mea culpa: Long ago I engineered at USA radio stations, member-owned and corporate, with significant news departments. All the newswriters and presenters effectively self-censored in order to meet station standards and follow FCC rules. Newspaper reporters I know bitched about what they could and couldn't submit to their editors. Oh, the self-censorship...

 

[irksomesauce]

Didn't see this earlier, sorry. Anyway, my fellow veterans...

http://www.sherv.net/cm/emo/laughing/roflmao.gif

 

[Que]

It was probably "hate speech" or "intolerant ideas" that society must not tolerate.

You have to wonder about the foundation of the convictions of any individual or State yhat does not have the courage to allow others to express theirs.

 

[MGurkus]

It was probably "hate speech" or "intolerant ideas" that society must not tolerate.

You have to wonder about the foundation of the convictions of any individual or State yhat does not have the courage to allow others to express theirs.

Talking about Rev wright upsetting the alt right snowflakes, queerbait? You Nazi supporters are free to spread your hate and we decent people who remember history shall smash your skulls given the chance. It's a fair trade off.