NPR

To The Dismay Of Free Speech Advocates, Vietnam Rolls Out Controversial Cyber Law

The law requires internet companies to store locals' data in Vietnam and hand over user information if the government asks for it, among other contentious provisions.
Men use tablets and laptops to check news over wifi at a coffee shop in Hanoi in 2014. Today almost half of Vietnam's population of over 95 million have access to Internet. A new and controversial cybersecurity law goes into effect nationwide Jan. 1, 2019.

A new cybersecurity law has gone into effect in Vietnam that puts stringent controls on tech companies operating inside the country and censors what its citizens read online.

The decree, by the National Assembly in June 2018, requires companies such as Facebook and Google to open offices in Vietnam, store local

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