Vietnam has asked Facebook to open a local office as the Communist-ruled country increases pressure on global technology firms to abide by a controversial cybersecurity law which takes effect on Jan. 1, 2019.
Critics of the law it gives Hanoi more power to crack down on dissent because it would require Facebook, Google and other global technology firms to store locally personal data on users in Vietnam and open offices in the country.
“Acting information minister Nguyen Manh Hung suggested Facebook, given its successful business in Vietnam, should reserve revenue to invest in research and development and soon open an office in Vietnam,” the official government website said late on Thursday.
Despite sweeping economic reforms and growing openness to social change, the ruling Communist Party tolerates little dissent and exercises strict control over media in Vietnam.
Simon Milner, Facebook’s vice-president of public policy for the Asia Pacific, met on Thursday (Sep 13) with Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on the sidelines of a World Economic Forum meeting in Hanoi.
Phuc said Facebook should be responsible for the security, safety and protection of its 60 million user accounts in Vietnam; the government website quoted the prime minister as saying at the meeting.
Last week, acting information minister Hung said Vietnam should promote home-grown social networks to compete with Google and Facebook and capture more of the social network market share in Vietnam, state media reported.
source: Reuters