Vietnam will ban anonymous accounts on social media, government decree likely
Representative image. The orders were sent to 8 social media & video streaming companies
Vietnam's deputy minister of information and communications said on Tuesday (May 9) that the country plans to ask all social media users to verify their identities. The minister cited the need to tackle online scams. Vietnam plans to bring social media platforms, including Facebook, Youtube and TikTok, under the purview of this decision.
The Southeast Asian nation has one of the highest online fraud rates in Asia, with financial, identity and romantic scams particularly common, according to the Global Anti Scam Alliance.
However, restrictions on social media are also used by the communist state to curb freedom of expression. Government critics with online following are reportedly regularly targeted.
"Unidentified social network accounts will be dealt with," said Nguyen Thanh Lam, deputy minister of information and communications, without elaborating.
Lam said that a new government decree on online information will be issued later this year. The decree will make the measure compulsory. The deputy minister said that there were times in the past authorities couldn't track social media users who violated the law.
This measure, he said, will "prevent the using of those platforms to create fraud groups that are untraceable". He did not elaborate further. Lam was quoted by AFP.
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No details were shared about the potential punishments for breaking this law.
The announcement from the government comes a month after authorities said they'd probe TikTok over alleged "toxic content". Vietnam has also asked foreign tech companies to store Vietnamese users' data inside the country and establish representative offices.
The requirement is part of a sweeping cyber security law introduced in 2018 that compels Facebook and Google to take down posts deemed to be a national security threat within 24 hours.
Facebook, TikTok and YouTube do not ask users in Vietnam to verify their identity.
Earlier this year, authorities ordered mobile phone users to verify their identities and subsequently blocked around 1.2 million SIM cards.
(With inputs from agencies)
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