VOA新闻杂志2022--越南将限制社交媒体账户发布新闻内容

Reports: Vietnam to Limit News on Social Media

Three people said Vietnam is preparing new rules to limit which social media accounts can publish news-related information.

Officials in the Southeast Asian country are aiming to take more control over news and information.

Reuters news agency reports that the rules might be announced by the end of the year but details have not been finished.

The rules would establish a legal basis for controlling the spread of news on services like Facebook and YouTube. At the same time, two of the people Reuters spoke¹ to added that the rules will place a notable amount of responsibility on the social media services to control their information.

The people who were the sources of the report asked to not be named because the discussions remain secret.

Vietnam's Ministry² of Information and Communications and Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not answer requests for comment.

One source said, "The government wants to fix what it sees as the 'news-lisation' of social media." "News-lisation," or "báo hoá" in Vietnamese, is a term used by the officials to describe the misleading of users into thinking that social media accounts are official news sources.

The sources said government officials have been holding secret meetings with popular social media and internet firms. The meetings are to discuss with the companies on which kinds of accounts will be permitted to post news under the new rules.

The sources said officials would be able to order social media companies to ban accounts that break those rules.

Vietnam's ruling Communist Party already highly censors⁴ media and permits little dissent⁵. And the country has one of the world's most severe policing of online behavior, including guidelines on how to act on social media.

Two sources with direct knowledge told Reuters that more rules on internet and social media websites would be introduced in late 2022 to early 2023.

Young Vietnamese increasingly turn to social media for information. But websites have become the target of government efforts to restrict the flow of news from unofficial sources.

Vietnam is a top-10 market for the social media site Facebook with 60 million to 70 million users, information from 2021 says. Sources with information on the social media site said Vietnam produces about $1 billion in yearly revenue for the company.

2021 government estimates for social media sites show that YouTube has 60 million users in Vietnam and TikTok has 20 million. Twitter has smaller numbers.

Meta, the owner of Facebook, and Twitter did not comment. Alphabet, the owner of Google and Youtube, did not answer requests for comment. TikTok said in a statement that it deals with violations⁶ based on law and its guidelines. But it did not comment on the possible upcoming Vietnam regulations.

The Vietnamese government had begun following a set of non-binding⁸ guidelines on what it considers a news service to be. They included guidelines to tell the difference between "real" and "fake" news. The government warned that some social media sites included accounts that mislead users into thinking they are newspapers.

Those guidelines are expected to be included into the new rules, which will be binding.

Sources told Reuters that the officials are also expected to create new rules that would require social media sites to immediately take down information considered harmful to national security. They would have to remove the illegal content within 24 hours.

The release of the new rules had been planned for July. Sources told Reuters in April that the new rules showed the government's dissatisfaction with social media sites' ability to remove material considered unacceptable.

The new rules will be carried out through amendments⁹ to the country's main internet law.

Vietnam in August also created new rules that will come into effect from October that will require technology companies to store users' data locally and to set up local offices.

Words in This Story

source –n. someone who provides information

firm –n. a business organization

post --–n. a message or piece of information on a social media service

censor³ – v. to examine books, movies, or letters in order to remove things that are considered to be offensive, immoral¹⁰, or harmful to society

revenue –n. money that is made by or paid to a business

bind⁷ – v. to make (something, such as an agreement) certain

fake – adj. not true or real

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

3 censor   

n./vt.审查，审查员；删改

参考例句：

• The film has not been viewed by the censor.这部影片还未经审查人员审查。
• The play was banned by the censor.该剧本被查禁了。

4 censors   

删剪（书籍、电影等中被认为犯忌、违反道德或政治上危险的内容）( censor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The censors eviscerated the book to make it inoffensive to the President. 审查员删去了该书的精华以取悦于总统。
• The censors let out not a word. 检察官一字也不发。

5 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

6 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

7 bind   

vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬

参考例句：

• I will let the waiter bind up the parcel for you.我让服务生帮你把包裹包起来。
• He wants a shirt that does not bind him.他要一件不使他觉得过紧的衬衫。

8 binding   

有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的

参考例句：

• The contract was not signed and has no binding force. 合同没有签署因而没有约束力。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding. 双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

9 amendments   

（法律、文件的）改动( amendment的名词复数 )； 修正案； 修改； （美国宪法的）修正案

参考例句：

• The committee does not adequately consult others when drafting amendments. 委员会在起草修正案时没有充分征求他人的意见。
• Please propose amendments and addenda to the first draft of the document. 请对这个文件的初稿提出修改和补充意见。

10 immoral   

adj.不道德的，淫荡的，荒淫的，有伤风化的

参考例句：

• She was questioned about his immoral conduct toward her.她被询问过有关他对她的不道德行为的情况。
• It is my belief that nuclear weapons are immoral.我相信使核武器是不邪恶的。