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Internet crackdown shrinks already constrained room for activism in Vietnam

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For Thảo, a journalist based in Hanoi, online reports from Vietnamese internet users were key to her and her colleagues’ coverage of Typhoon Yagi and its aftermath. The storm, the biggest in Asia this year and the strongest to strike Vietnam in 70 years, made landfall in the country’s north on Sept. 7. Millions pf people were reportedly affected, especially in northern areas overwhelmed by severe flooding and landslides. The government estimated that Yagi caused about $2 billion worth of damage to the Vietnamese economy and could hinder its GDP growth by 0.15%. “Many state media outlets did not have the budget to dispatch reporters to the affected regions,” says Thảo, who’s affiliated with a state media outlet and asked not to use her real name. “Plus, many [state-affiliated] reporters were not willing to visit the sites for safety reasons. Those who could reach affected areas reported blocked and damaged roads due to heavy flooding.” That made reports from citizen journalists of prime importance, she says. Yet not all such contributions to the coverage of the unprecedented disaster were welcomed by the state. Amid the typhoon, the Vietnamese government warned citizens of the “storm” of fabricated news on social media. The Ministry of Public Security’s Cyber Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention Bureau also threatened rigorous action against individuals and organizations spreading what it deemed to be inaccurate information that might adversely impact natural disaster prevention and control efforts. On the ground, this meant fines for users deemed to be publishing…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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