VOA慢速英语2013 越南新法令禁止社交媒体讨论新闻时事

 

New Vietnam Law Bans News Stories From Social Media Sites 越南新法令禁止社交媒体讨论新闻时事

From VOA Learning English, this is the Technology Report.

Internet activists¹ and human rights groups are criticising a decree that is set to go into effect in Vietnam on September 1st. The order says blogs and social media sites in Vietnam should be used only to share personal information. It aims to ban social media users and bloggers from posting other information, such as news stories.

Local media reports say the decree states that such sites are "not allowed to quote, gather or summarize information from press organizations or government websites."

Prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung approved decree 72 in July. Internet activists say this is an attempt by the communist government to further restrict freedom of speech. Rights groups say the decree's requirements are overly broad and will be used to act against government critics.

Others criticized a statement by Le Nam Thang, the Deputy Minister of Information and Communications. State media reported him of saying that the law aims to help web users "find correct and clean information on the Internet."

But blogger Huynh Ngoc Chenh says that is a matter of personal choice. She says, People should be able to decide for themselves whether information is good or bad. And she says, Vietnamese citizens do not need the government to coach them on how to think.

The decree sets out very broad categories of speech that officials could consider as troublesome. It includes warnings about information that is against Vietnam or undermines certain principles.

Shawn Crispin is the southeast Asia representative for the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ. He says the increased restrictions² suggest that the government thinks it has lost control of criticism that is so widespread on social media.

"The campaign has indeed intensified³ over the last year. Authorities seem to be using the tactic⁴ of singling out individual critical bloggers as a way of sending a signal to the larger community that this will not be tolerated."

It is unclear how the government means to enforce such widespread restrictions, and there is no word on what punishment would be given to those who break the law. But the deputy director for the Asia division at Human Watch, Phil Robertson says widespread enforcement may not be necessary to gain the government's desire to effect. "This is a law that has been established for selective persecution," he says, "this is a law that will be used against certain people who have become a thorn in the side of the authorities in Hanoi."

And that's the Technology Report from VOA Learning English. I'm Jim Tedder⁵.

1 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

3 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 tactic   

n.战略，策略；adj.战术的，有策略的

参考例句：

• Reducing prices is a common sales tactic.降价是常用的销售策略。
• She had often used the tactic of threatening to resign.她惯用以辞职相威胁的手法。

5 tedder   

n.（干草）翻晒者，翻晒机

参考例句：

• Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆？特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
• Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆？泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网