Vietnam
The Socialist Republic of Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia, was rated 178 out of 180 countries by the World Press Freedom Index 2023. This is an annually published ranking established by the non-governmental organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which measures media independence, pluralism, and five more categories via questionnaire.
By utilizing statistics on aggression against journalists and analyzing the legal and political framework, WPFI shows where the media is obstructed by countries’ domestic environments. The index exposed Vietnam as one of the least favorable media environments in the world.
According to the BBC Country Report, the communist party of Vietnam has a strong grip on media and its means- print, broadcast outlets, radio, and TV. As a one-party Communist state, Vietnam uses repressive laws to constrain journalists and bloggers, says Freedom House. Due to substantial state control, the freedom of the press scores extremely low.
In Vietnam, real power resides in the post of general secretary of the Communist Party, which has been held by Nguyen Phu Trọng since 2011, the country’s highest decision-making body, according to BBC Country Profile.
Controversial reports and comments put journalists in physical danger, as they might be considered traitors who discredited the Party.
During the Vietnam War (1955–1975), which played a major role in shaping contemporary Vietnam, RSF inquiry states that 63 journalists were killed. Compared to more recent years, there is information on media workers who died while covering a story in 2011.
Bloggers and citizen journalists are the only sources of independent news, says Reporters Without Borders (RSF), but they face “ever-harsher forms of persecution.”
Freedom of the press is proclaimed in Article 19 of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam’s constitution, says RSF. Judging by the NGO’s legal evaluation of Vietnam, the political apparatus has a tailor-made legislative arsenal. It allows the imprisonment of any news and information provider who proves troublesome.
It includes articles 109, 117, and 331 of the penal code, under which anyone found guilty of “activities aimed at overthrowing the government,” “anti-state propaganda,” or “abusing the rights to freedom and democracy” can be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison, writes RSF.
According to the BBC Media Guide, TV is the main medium. Vietnam Television (VTV) runs the only national network. VTV-owned satellite and cable-paid TV platforms carry some foreign TVs.
There are hundreds of newspapers and magazines. The Communist Party, government bodies, and the military own or control almost all of them, says Freedom House.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, an NGO that promotes media freedom around the world, database carries the file of Hung, a reporter for the Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper. The CPJ investigation concluded that Hung was killed for his aggressive coverage of official misconduct in the Mekong Delta region.
His wife had reported that Hung had been receiving threatening text messages. Based on that information, CPJ initially classified his death as work-related. CPJ’s classification was updated in light of the conviction.
According to the CPJ, the Party did try to cover it up, but unsuccessfully.
The Diplomat, a current affairs magazine for the Asia-Pacific region, reveals that social media can be a forum for political debate, criticism, and the free exchange of political ideas, all concepts that are anathema to the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP).
Reported by the 88 Project’s annual Human Rights report, 10 online commentators were arrested in 2020. These commentators had no links to civil society groups and were jailed solely for what they posted online. The article discovered two imprisoned journalists in Vietnam, Tran Thi Tuyet Dieu, and a human rights advocate Pham Doang Trang.
The annual HR report also stated that the pandemic and Vietnam’s perceived success in handling it further helped normalize the policies of Vietnam’s police state. Vietnam severely controlled the flow of information around COVID-19 and punished online users for expressing criticism of the regime’s handling of the crisis.
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Maria Stefanova is a second-year student at the American University in Bulgaria, majoring in Journalism and Mass Communication, and Business Administration. She recognizes a need to expose the ongoing battle for media independence in Vietnam.
