Vietnam restricted access to Facebook during Obama visit – activists
Facebook earlier announced a partnership with a group called FSM, which voluntarily monitors multimedia service providers, and said it would encourage its users to push back against racism. (Reporting by Harro ten Wolde and Thomas Seythal; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
Facebook is often shut down in Vietnam during politically sensitive times, Angelina Huynh, advocacy director for Viet Tan, which has members around the world, including in Vietnam, said in a phone interview.
Uganda’s government blocked Facebook and Twitter Inc in February during presidential elections. In March, after a deadly bombing in Turkey, an Ankara court ordered a ban on access to Facebook and Twitter.
Officials of Access Now, a digital rights organization, and Viet Tan, a Vietnamese pro-democracy group, said the social media site was restricted and at times blocked inside Vietnam from Sunday to Wednesday, citing reports from people inside the country on Twitter and to Access Now’s digital security help service.
Facebook’s Managing Director Northern, Central and Eastern Europe Martin Ott, who is based in Hamburg, may be held responsible for the social platform not removing hate speech, the spokeswoman said. “We are at a very early stage,” she added.
Chancellor Angela Merkel earlier this year urged Facebook to do more and the Justice Ministry wants to set up a task force with Facebook and other social networks and internet service providers with the aim of identifying criminal posts more quickly and taking them down.
Facebook said it was not commenting on the status of a possible investigation. “But we can say that the allegations lack merit and there has been no violation of German law by Facebook or its employees,” a Facebook spokesperson said.
Obama’s three-day visit to Vietnam ended on Wednesday. Obama largely focused on normalizing relations with Vietnam. But he also promoted human rights and chided Vietnam about restrictions on political freedoms after critics of its communist-run government were prevented from meeting him.
FRANKFURT, Nov 10 (Reuters) – Prosecutors in Hamburg have launched an investigation into the European head of Facebook over the social platform’s alleged failure to remove racist hate speech, a spokeswoman download pdf for free the prosecutor said on Tuesday.
The move coincides with a trend toward restrictions on Facebook in countries including China, Uganda and Turkey during politically sensitive times as the 1.6 billion-person social network grows more powerful.
The move was announced as German politicians and celebrities voice concern about the rise of anti-foreigner comments in German on Facebook and by other social media as the country struggles to cope with the influx of about 1 million refugees this year.
SAN FRANCISCO, May 26 (Reuters) – The Vietnamese government restricted access to Facebook Inc inside Vietnam for several days this week as part of a broader crackdown on human rights and political dissidents during a visit by President Barack Obama, two activist organizations said on Thursday.