Vietnam set to amend press law

Following on from earlier, a little more info. on the Vietnam blogging crackdown

The Ministry of Culture and Information is drafting regulations to prevent bloggers from posting subversive and sexually explicit content online. Vu Xuan Thanh, the ministry's chief inspector, said they would enable agencies to control weblogs and slap fines on people disseminating 'subversive or licentious information'.

He said once the regulations were finalised a circular would be issued and they would be incorporated in the amended Press Law.

But the manager of Ngoi Sao Network Company, which runs the licensed weblog www.ngoisaoblog.com, warned that superfluous formalities like asking bloggers to register their real names and ID card numbers would only see a rise in blogs located outside Vietnam. via Intellasia

If you're Vietnamese, living in Vietnam and want to start a blog why would you ever want to submit your blog to the vagaries of the Ministry minions? Especially given their track record with people writing online. Even if you have absolutely no intention of publishing anything 'subversive or licentious', why run the risk of falling foul of a flimsy law when you can easily set up a blog on a free service hosted outside the country?


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