VZCZCXRO0495
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHNH
DE RUEHHM #0412/01 1111058
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 211058Z APR 06
FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0718
INFO RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI PRIORITY 0525
RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 0751

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 HO CHI MINH CITY 000412 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM SOCI PREL PINR PGOV VM
SUBJECT: VIETNAM INTERNET: NEW CHANNELS FOR MEDIA AND POLITICAL 
DIALOGUE 
 
REF: HCMC 334; B) HCMC 318; C)HCMC 214; D) HCMC 229; E) HANOI 628; F)H 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000412  001.2 OF 004 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary: Internet use in HCMC and other towns -- small 
and large -- in Vietnam is expanding dramatically.  Although the 
GVN has established a tight regulatory and technical framework 
to control the Internet, its impact on use and access appears 
relatively muted thus far.  Political and religious dissidents 
based in HCMC and Hue increasingly are using the internet to 
coordinate positions and to keep the outside world aware of -- 
and able to respond to -- police harassment.  Even "regular" 
Vietnamese are turning to blogs and private forums to express 
their discontent with elements of the Communist Party's 
performance and ideology.  The Party is struggling to balance 
the recognition that Vietnam must have a robust Internet to fuel 
economic growth with the threat that increased accessed to 
information and ideas has on the Party's control.  Septels from 
Embassy Hanoi will discuss telecom sector and economic aspects 
of internet development in Vietnam.  End Summary. 
 
EXPLOSIVE INTERNET GROWTH 
------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) According to official statistics, currently there are 
over three million Internet subscribers, including some 300,000 
high-speed DSL subscribers.  Introduced in Vietnam in mid-2003, 
growth in DSL use has increased by 300 percent from 2004 to 
¶2005.  Although demographic statistics are not available, it 
appears that the vast majority of internet users are the 
under-30 crowd, many of them teenagers. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The vast majority of Vietnamese users access the 
internet via seemingly ubiquitous Internet kiosks.  In HCMC 
metropolitan area alone there are about 2,000 Internet kiosks. 
There even are DSL-supported Internet kiosks in some of the 
secondary cities and towns in the Central Highlands.   Our HCMC 
contacts in the industry say there are no ready, reliable 
statistics on the number of users in each province or geographic 
region of Vietnam.  They estimate that, overall, at least 15 
percent of Vietnam's 83 million persons presently have regular 
Internet access. 
 
LEGAL FRAMEWORK 
---------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Vietnamese internet laws and regulations focus on 
"protecting" internet users from socially inappropriate web 
content and give legal authority to law enforcement agencies to 
oversee the internet and to firewall or stop any unwanted 
Internet traffic. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Decree 55 of 2001 forbids all internet use either aimed 
at disrupting security, violating "social ethics and customs" or 
opposing the government.  Decree 55 authorizes the Ministries of 
Public Security, Culture and Information and Post and Telematics 
to introduce and enforce sub-legal documents on Internet 
control.  In 2002, the Ministry of Culture and Information 
issued Decision 27, outlawing cyber content that "instigates the 
people against the government and sabotages the great national 
unity."  This decision specifically forbids internet news 
outlets from publishing information running contrary to GVN 
guidelines. 
 
¶6. (SBU) In July 2005, the Ministries of Public Security, 
Culture and Information and Post and Telematics issued 
"Inter-agency Circular 02," requiring Internet kiosks to store 
information on users, including their national ID card data, 
history of websites visited and e-mails for 30 days.  The 
Circular prohibits minors under the age of 14 from visiting 
Internet kiosks without a parent.  In November 2005, the 
National Assembly passed the Electronic Exchange Law, Article 49 
of which gives GVN entities full access to computer networks, 
databases and electronic message traffic, as well as the 
authority to block computer networks. 
 
Enforcement and Compliance: Physical and Virtual 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Every city and town has formed an "814 Inter-agency 
Control Team" (Doan kiem tra lien nganh 814), whose main task is 
to "fight social evils," including checking on internet kiosks' 
operations.  A typical 814 Team often consists of policemen and 
local Party and government culture & information officials. 
According to an HCMC contact, there are police officers assigned 
at ward level to monitor internet kiosks. 
 
¶8. (SBU) These efforts do not appear to have had a significant 
impact on internet kiosk operations thus far.  Media reports and 
our own anecdotal experience show that internet kiosks do not 
maintain accurate logbooks and rarely ask internet users to 
present identification.  Many internet kiosks in HCMC also offer 
private air conditioned rooms with webcams.  These VIP rooms are 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000412  002.2 OF 004 
 
 
often used to access sex, chat and online games sites. 
Restrictions required by Circular 02, if properly applied, would 
affect the number and frequency of guests, seriously cutting 
kiosk income. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Our HCMC contacts say they know little about the 
breadth and sophistication of the technical effort to police the 
internet.  One contact told us that a small unit of national 
security police is based at the HCMC General Post Office to 
check on internet traffic.  Another contact told us that GVN 
authorities use applications that help identify individual 
subscribers, even if they use DSL with a dynamic Internet 
Protocol system.  According to our contact, this enables the 
Internet monitor to know "who is doing what" on the internet. 
We also can infer from the case of the "PalTalk" Internet 
arrests in HCMC (Ref A) that police have agents posing as normal 
users to monitor activity on politically-linked internet sites. 
However, to our knowledge, the arrest of five to seven persons 
in the PalTalk case is the only incident in which police seemed 
able to track down supposedly anonymous users using Internet 
pseudonyms. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Although the vast majority of Vietnamese users appear 
content to use the Internet for entertainment, for those 
interested in unfiltered news, GVN firewalls and online 
enforcement do not appear to be a significant obstacle -- at 
least thus far.  For example, our contacts tell us that 
reporters in HCMC's state-controlled media routinely bypass 
firewalls to read blocked websites such as Radio Free Asia or 
Voice of America as well as other overseas Vietnamese sites, 
although they do not directly use information from banned 
sources. 
 
DISSIDENTS AND INTERNET 
----------------------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) The increased availability and ease of access to the 
Internet has eased the burden of Vietnam's political and 
religious dissidents.  They rely on the internet to coordinate 
and disseminate news and policy papers, obtain unfiltered 
information from the web and to inform the outside world quickly 
of any arrest or harassment involving their community.  The 
Internet has helped empower and connect disparate dissidents 
groups in HCMC and Hue with their colleagues in Hanoi.  For 
example: 
 
-- Following the detention of HCMC-based dissident Do Nam Hai 
(aka Phuong Nam) in March (Ref B), digital copies of the arrest 
warrant were published within hours of his arrest on overseas 
Vietnamese websites. 
 
-- In December 2005 leading political dissidents including 
HCMC-based Tran Khue and Hanoi-based Hoang Minh Chinh launched 
an on-line website called the "Democracy Movement."  Hosted on a 
server based in the United States, the website was hacked within 
days of its inauguration before being restored and maintained 
with better security measures.  The website currently operates 
normally, though accessing it from inside Vietnam requires 
knowing how to bypass the GVN's firewall (Ref C). 
 
-- In early April, over 100 Vietnamese political and religious 
activists posted two declarations on democracy and freedom of 
association on the internet.  One of declaration was initially 
drafted by Do Nam Hai in HCMC, but completed by dissident 
Catholic priest Nguyen Van Ly in Hue after police seized Hai's 
computer in March.  A senior monk of the banned-Unified Buddhist 
Church of Vietnam also signed the declarations.  Do Nam Hai was 
able to e-mail his draft to Father Ly and some other dissidents 
across the country. 
 
-- Roughly a month after his January release, Hanoi-based 
dissident Nguyen Khac Toan joined Do Nam Hai in an internet 
kiosk in Hanoi, where Hai instructed Toan how to bypass 
firewalls to read news from banned websites.  Toan was one on 
the signatories of the "Democracy Movement." 
 
¶12. (SBU) There also appears to be a link, albeit an unclear 
one, between active Party members -- or persons with Party links 
-- inside Vietnam and overseas Vietnamese websites opposed to 
the conservative wing of the Party.  These websites routinely 
post apparently authentic internal Party and police documents as 
well as juicy political rumors. 
 
ONLINE MEDIA 
------------ 
 
¶13. (SBU) Almost all HCMC-based newspapers have 
Vietnamese-language internet editions in Vietnamese.  To date, 
Thanh Nien (Young People) is the only major HCMC-newspaper with 
an online English version; Saigon Giai Phong (Saigon 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000412  003.2 OF 004 
 
 
Liberation), the Party's HCMC mouthpiece, is preparing to launch 
its own English-language web edition.  Recently, HCMC's most 
progressive daily Tuoi Tre (Youth) announced plans to launch its 
own English online version.  Vietnam also boasts two 
Internet-only news sites:  "VNExpress" and "VietnamNet." 
VNExpress and VietnamNet are owned by State-owned internet 
companies.   Media contacts tell us that on-line editions thus 
far are loss makers for the industry.  However, newspaper 
management believe that they are "must-haves" to attract 
overseas Vietnamese readership and to keep up with competing 
newspapers.  Interestingly, contacts at VietnamNet tell us that 
they are planning to start a print version of their online 
newspapear. 
 
¶14.  (SBU) Online newspapers are subject to the same Party and 
GVN censorship pressures that print media face (outlined Ref D). 
 To launch an internet edition, newspapers must seek special 
permission from the Ministry of Culture and Information (MCI). 
In the case of Tuoi Tre, the MCI permit mandates that Tuoi Tre's 
internet edition content must adhere to the paper edition. 
Because of pressure from the authorities, online newspapers 
review and censor readers' comments that are posted online. 
Many news-related forums state clearly in their "terms and 
conditions for membership" that no politically sensitive matters 
are to be discussed. 
 
¶15. (SBU) However, in the run up to the Party Congress, Tuoi Tre 
Online, along with VietnamNet, has been as assertive as its 
print brother in the advocacy of a reformist agenda.  For 
example, Tuoi Tre online edition gave an article calling for 
establishment of rule of law banner position on it site.  (The 
same article received only inside-page placement in the print 
edition.)  Tuoi Tre online and VietnamNet also showcased 
prominent reformists, such as Nguyen Trung, advisor to former 
Prime Minister Kiet.  Both also posted readers' letters 
supporting calls for ideological and political reform (Refs E 
and F). 
 
Yahoo and Google 
----------------- 
 
¶16. (SBU) Yahoo and Google do not have offices or permits to 
operate in Vietnam.  However, in late 2005, Yahoo! launched a 
Vietnamese language web page, set up by a Vietnamese Yahoo 
employee based in Singapore.  The Yahoo! Vietnam site is hosted 
in Singapore.  According to our media contacts, the Vietnamese 
employee has close relationship with Tuoi Tre online; 
consequently, Yahoo! struck a deal with Tuoi Tre to take daily 
news feeds from the Vietnamese newspaper for Yahoo!'s Vietnamese 
web page general news section. 
 
¶17. (SBU) Beginning in 2004, Google launched a Vietnam-specific 
page to provide search results for Vietnamese-language 
information.  The site will display links of banned websites 
such as RFA, but the Vietnamese firewall blocks access.  To 
date, Google does not provide any other services in Vietnam.  In 
February 2006, Google sent a specialist to Vietnam to explore 
market opportunities.  Thanh Nien has registered its English web 
edition as a source for Google News on Vietnam. 
 
BLOGS AND PUBLIC FORUMS 
----------------------- 
 
¶18. (SBU) It appears that blogging is increasingly popular among 
Vietnamese youth, particularly following Yahoo's introduction of 
its "360 Degrees" blog space in late 2005.  Public forums, on 
the other hand, have been widely used in Vietnam since the 
late-1990s.  Forums such as Tri Tue Viet Nam (Vietnamese 
Intellect) and Trai Tim Viet Nam (Vietnam's Heart) have now 
attracted tens of thousands of members both at home and abroad. 
Moderators in these forums generally ban or remove postings with 
political content.  Thanh Nien Xa Me (Youth Away From Homes) -- 
a large and influential forum popular among young Vietnamese 
overseas students and intellectuals -- also steers clear of 
internal politics. 
 
¶19. (SBU) The Internet in Vietnam also is home to smaller, 
specialized forums with a restrictive membership, often from one 
organization.  An example is lamvuon.net (The Gardener), set up 
by officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  The Gardener 
features discussion topics on political reform, opinions on the 
coming 10th Party Congress, including a critical post on 
Minister of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Nguyen Dzy Nien for being 
ineffective and taking bribes.  These forums sometimes allow 
non-registered readers to post messages. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶20. (SBU) The Party clearly recognizes that for Vietnam to 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000412  004.2 OF 004 
 
 
develop into a modern industrialized state, it must have a 
robust Internet and an Internet-literate population.  An 
indication of this thinking is Prime Minister Phan Van Khai's 
call for 35 percent of Vietnamese to use the internet by 2010, a 
near tripling of current rates of use.  At the same time, some 
Party members view uncontrolled access to information and 
increased freedom of expression as threats to their interests 
and the power of the Communist Party.  In his keynote speech on 
the first day of the 10th Party Congress, Phan Dien, Standing 
Member of the Party Secretariat and conservative ideologue, 
warned that the Party "has been slow to develop appropriate 
solutions to control the Internet, while negative elements are 
taking advantage of this medium to fight aggressively against 
the Party."   End Comment