[StBernard] Vietnam to watch bloggers

[Westley Annis]

Interesting story below.  Ironic that Vietnam before the United States
wishes to clean up blog where crude comments are made.  Normally I would say
we in the U.S. should go along with that, but the liberal wack-o's in
Congress would interpret this as meaning to only shut down conservative
blogs while liberal blogs would be allowed to continue with their non-sense,
hateful rants ignoring fact.
 
John
 

Vietnam imposes new blogging restrictions


Published: 12/24/08, 1:25 AM EDT


HANOI, Vietnam (AP) - Vietnam has approved new regulations banning bloggers
from discussing subjects the government deems sensitive or inappropriate and
requiring them to limit their writings to personal issues. 

The rules ban any posts that undermine national security, incite violence or
crime, disclose state secrets, or include inaccurate information that could
damage the reputation of individuals and organizations, according to a copy
of the regulations obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press. 

The rules, which were approved Dec. 18, attempt to rein in Vietnam's booming
blogosphere. It has become an alternative source of news for many in the
communist country, where the media is state-controlled. 

The new rules require Internet companies that provide blogging platforms to
report to the government every six months and provide information about
bloggers on request.  The companies are also required to prevent and remove
content the government deems harmful. 

The regulations, written by the Ministry of Information and Communications,
encourage bloggers to use "clean, healthy Vietnamese language." They clarify
earlier Internet regulations that were introduced in August. 

Ministry official Luu Vu Hai would not say whether the new regulations will
apply to international companies like Google or Yahoo or would only restrict
the operation of Vietnamese firms. 

Currently, the vast majority of Vietnamese bloggers post their writings on
Yahoo! 360.