France-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on March 12 released aso-called survey on the right to freedom of expression on socialnetworks.
RSF’s Secretary General Jean-FrancoisJulliard said in a communique that around 60 nations have censored theInternet to some extent, and at the same time have disturbed networkcitizens (netizens).
It was very odd when RSFcontinued to announce its list of “Enemies of the Internet” whichincluded 10 nations often harassed by RSF – including Vietnam, Cuba,China, Myanmar, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Iran.
Besides the list of “Enemies of the Internet”, 16 other nations wereplaced under “surveillance” such as Australia , France , the Republicof Korea , Sri Lanka , Thailand and Malaysia .
In its report, RSF mentioned a series of cases in Vietnam theorganisation itself called violations of Internet freedom and“spontaneously” cited the blocking of the social networking site,Facebook, without giving any evidences. RSF did not forget to accuse theVietnamese Government of issuing many circulars and decrees aimed attightening control over the Internet, including forcing Internet coffeekiosks to close early or install software to prevent access to “bad”websites. Called itself a pro-press freedom organisation, RSF accusedVietnam of detaining 17 netizens – the second largest number in theworld according to its inventory.
RSF actuallydisregarded individuals and organisations throughout the world when itthought that they innocently believed in such simple denouncements.
Among the above-mentioned groundless denouncements, only one isargued, and the organisation’s “hastiness” can be exposed. If RSF’s“researchers” spent more time reading a series of articles published in2010 and in previous years, they would find stories about how onlinegames and young people’s over-indulgence in the games, and pornographicwebsites, lead to social evils and serious matters in Vietnamesesociety.
The management of Internet coffee kiosks,especially those next to schools, and the blocking of websitescontaining contents that are harmful and contrary to national habits andcustoms are now replaced with a “political label” as blame for theprevention of freedom of speech. A number of citizens who intentionallyabused the Internet to violate laws and were then punished in accordancewith the law – as in other civilised countries – are suddenlyelevated into “heroic netizens” by RSF.
It isessential to cite several figures to show how an “enemy of the Internet”has actually developed the Internet. In 1997, Vietnam gained accessto global web services for the first time. Since then the use of theInternet in the country has developed very rapidly.
Statistics released by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) –the UN agency for information and communication technologies, showedthat Vietnam saw approximately 200,000 Internet users in 2000,accounting for just 0.3 percent of its population. The figure rose to16.7 million in 2007, equivalent to 19.7 percent of the population, andby the end of 2010, Vietnam had 24.26 million Internet users,representing 27.1 percent of the population. Vietnam nearly enteredthe list of the Top 20 nations with the largest number of Internet usersby World Internet Stats. Canada , the 20 th nation on the list,boasts 26.2 million Internet users.
The rate ofInternet users in Vietnam almost reaches the world’s average of 28.7percent and is higher than Asia ’s average of 21.5 percent. Manynations which were listed as “Enemies of the Internet” or placed under“surveillance” by RSF also have high proportions of Internet users ascompared with their total populations.
In addition,social networks have developed rapidly in Vietnam . A survey releasedon May 20, 2010 by Yahoo and Kantar Media indicated that the sharing ofcontents and viewpoints on social networks and participation in onlineforums was more popular than making friends and social connections.According to statistics, by December 2010, six social networks that havedeveloped most rapidly in Vietnam included ZingMe (4.6 millionmembers), Facebook (3.5 million members) and Yahoo (3.1 millionmembers), Yume (2.6 million members), GoOnline (1.6 million members),and Tamtay (1 million users). Some other smaller networks are KunKun,Cyworld and Yobanbe. Facebook estimated itself it had approximately 2million users by January 2011.
It was unreasonablefor RSF to place itself in a “superexcellent” position to judge theentire world and accuse up to 60 nations to different extents.
RSF’s list and its hasty assessments are not too different from thoseit had issued in previous years, excluding the addition and cutting ofone or two nations in an attempt to make it transparent. Whenever RSFfails to clean smears on its own shirt, a list of hostilities for thefollowing years is predictable. Whoever sees the list can only repeatthe question: “Why is the same play restaged all the time?”./.
RSF’s Secretary General Jean-FrancoisJulliard said in a communique that around 60 nations have censored theInternet to some extent, and at the same time have disturbed networkcitizens (netizens).
It was very odd when RSFcontinued to announce its list of “Enemies of the Internet” whichincluded 10 nations often harassed by RSF – including Vietnam, Cuba,China, Myanmar, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Iran.
Besides the list of “Enemies of the Internet”, 16 other nations wereplaced under “surveillance” such as Australia , France , the Republicof Korea , Sri Lanka , Thailand and Malaysia .
In its report, RSF mentioned a series of cases in Vietnam theorganisation itself called violations of Internet freedom and“spontaneously” cited the blocking of the social networking site,Facebook, without giving any evidences. RSF did not forget to accuse theVietnamese Government of issuing many circulars and decrees aimed attightening control over the Internet, including forcing Internet coffeekiosks to close early or install software to prevent access to “bad”websites. Called itself a pro-press freedom organisation, RSF accusedVietnam of detaining 17 netizens – the second largest number in theworld according to its inventory.
RSF actuallydisregarded individuals and organisations throughout the world when itthought that they innocently believed in such simple denouncements.
Among the above-mentioned groundless denouncements, only one isargued, and the organisation’s “hastiness” can be exposed. If RSF’s“researchers” spent more time reading a series of articles published in2010 and in previous years, they would find stories about how onlinegames and young people’s over-indulgence in the games, and pornographicwebsites, lead to social evils and serious matters in Vietnamesesociety.
The management of Internet coffee kiosks,especially those next to schools, and the blocking of websitescontaining contents that are harmful and contrary to national habits andcustoms are now replaced with a “political label” as blame for theprevention of freedom of speech. A number of citizens who intentionallyabused the Internet to violate laws and were then punished in accordancewith the law – as in other civilised countries – are suddenlyelevated into “heroic netizens” by RSF.
It isessential to cite several figures to show how an “enemy of the Internet”has actually developed the Internet. In 1997, Vietnam gained accessto global web services for the first time. Since then the use of theInternet in the country has developed very rapidly.
Statistics released by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) –the UN agency for information and communication technologies, showedthat Vietnam saw approximately 200,000 Internet users in 2000,accounting for just 0.3 percent of its population. The figure rose to16.7 million in 2007, equivalent to 19.7 percent of the population, andby the end of 2010, Vietnam had 24.26 million Internet users,representing 27.1 percent of the population. Vietnam nearly enteredthe list of the Top 20 nations with the largest number of Internet usersby World Internet Stats. Canada , the 20 th nation on the list,boasts 26.2 million Internet users.
The rate ofInternet users in Vietnam almost reaches the world’s average of 28.7percent and is higher than Asia ’s average of 21.5 percent. Manynations which were listed as “Enemies of the Internet” or placed under“surveillance” by RSF also have high proportions of Internet users ascompared with their total populations.
In addition,social networks have developed rapidly in Vietnam . A survey releasedon May 20, 2010 by Yahoo and Kantar Media indicated that the sharing ofcontents and viewpoints on social networks and participation in onlineforums was more popular than making friends and social connections.According to statistics, by December 2010, six social networks that havedeveloped most rapidly in Vietnam included ZingMe (4.6 millionmembers), Facebook (3.5 million members) and Yahoo (3.1 millionmembers), Yume (2.6 million members), GoOnline (1.6 million members),and Tamtay (1 million users). Some other smaller networks are KunKun,Cyworld and Yobanbe. Facebook estimated itself it had approximately 2million users by January 2011.
It was unreasonablefor RSF to place itself in a “superexcellent” position to judge theentire world and accuse up to 60 nations to different extents.
RSF’s list and its hasty assessments are not too different from thoseit had issued in previous years, excluding the addition and cutting ofone or two nations in an attempt to make it transparent. Whenever RSFfails to clean smears on its own shirt, a list of hostilities for thefollowing years is predictable. Whoever sees the list can only repeatthe question: “Why is the same play restaged all the time?”./.
