Facebook and YouTube accused of complicity in Vietnam repression
Facebook and YouTube are complicit in “censorship and repression on an industrial scale” in Vietnam, according to a report by Amnesty International that accuses the platforms of openly signalling that they are willing to bow to the wishes of authoritarian regimes.
Facebook’s executives have repeatedly promoted the platform as a bastion of “free expression”, but in Vietnam, where there is little tolerance for dissent, the company complied with hundreds of requests to censor content earlier this year. This includes peaceful criticism of the state by activists, which is protected under international human rights law.
Vietnam is a lucrative market for both Facebook and Google, which owns YouTube. In 2018, Facebook’s income from the country was almost $1bn (£750m) – roughly one-third of all revenue from south-east Asia. Google earned $475m during the same period, thanks to YouTube advertising.
“Facebook is by far the most popular and profitable platform in Vietnam,” said Ming Yu Hah, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for campaigns, who added that businesses had a responsibility to respect human rights wherever they operated. [Continue reading…]