Vietnam's New Internet Rules

What I understand of Vietnam's new Internet rule, effective January 1, 2019:

1. Vietnam approves a cybersecurity law that tighten control on technology companies operating in the region. 
2. It will takes effect next year and likely impact companies such as Facebook and Google most most significantly. These companies are required to open offices locally in Vietnam and stores users' information locally as well. 
3. Companies are also required to provide the government with their users' personal information as they are requested. 
4. Cyber companies are required to take down critical posts within 24 hours

In the short-term, I think this rule will have economic impact on Facebook and Google, as Vietnamese users are significant on both platforms. According to Statistica (https://www.statista.com/statistics/369732/internet-users-vietnam/), there are currently 55M Vietnamese, or almost 60% of the general population, who are connected to the Internet. The companies will have to decide if they want these users on their platform, with the added cost from having to set up offices and data centers, because currently they don't store any of their users information in Vietnam. I think there are data warehouses in Singapore. Secondly, they will have to live with the possible repercussion of the Internet community's backlashes re: bending to central government against free speech in the name of profit. 

In the long term, Vietnamese Internet users will find ways to circumvent any censorship. Likely alternatives include Steemit, Discord, Telegram, etc. The worms are already out of the can. Users will shift to programs, software, and sites that offer them the desired privacy that they need to communicate. I don't think that any one central government can censor 100% of content. They can try to at a high cost, but they won't be able to succeed. 

Vietnam should also consider the law, in light of WTO membership and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement that the country signed last February. It goes against the spirit of the the international commitment, as well as interpretation of the provisions of those agreements. Certainly, human rights group Amnesty International said that the law was a devastating blow for freedom of expression, allowing the state to force tech companies hand over vast amount of data (https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/06/viet-nam-cybersecurity-law-devastating-blow-freedom-of-expression/) 

With the sweeping powers it grants the government to monitor online activity, this vote means there is now no safe place left in Vietnam for people to speak freely. Clare Algar, Amnesty International's Director of Global Operations

We should see an influx of users to this platform, Steemit, especially. Some users of of the Steemit community, including @nguoiviet are speaking out against the new rules.  The blockchain social media will not be able to block or comply to the government's mandate. Maybe there lies the beauty of the blockchain social media site. There is no company or single individual with a vested interest and ownership of it so that there is no one that the government can go after. The government would have to go after EVERYONE! They can't ever truly take down Steemit even if they want to. No central government can take down blockchain, even the most powerful of them all, the US government. 

There is still time, ahead of the January 1, 2019 implementation date for the rule to be effective. Let's hope that the Vietnamese lawmakers have a change of heart by then. Regardless, I don't think this new rule will have material impact on how local Vietnamese users use the internet medium to communicate. We shall see how Facebook and Google respond...

To be continued...

Source of image:  https://pixabay.com/en/grandmother-kids-laptop-myanmar-1807515/