BBC:Vietnam admits deploying bloggers to support government

[haidian]

Vietnam admits deploying bloggers to support government
By Nga Pham BBC News, Hanoi
12 January 2013 Last updated at 00:50 GMT

Vietnamese propaganda officials have admitted deploying people to engage in online discussions and post comments supporting the Communist Party's policies.

The party has also confirmed that it operates a network of nearly 1,000 "public opinion shapers".

They are assigned with the task of spreading the party line.

The tactic is similar to China's model of internet moderators who aim to control news and manipulate opinion.
'Political opportunists'

Hanoi Propaganda and Education Department head Ho Quang Loi said that the authorities had hired hundreds of so-called "internet polemists" in the fight against "online hostile forces".

While the exact number of these activists is unknown, Mr Loi revealed that his organisation is running at least 400 online accounts and 20 microblogs.

Regular visitors on popular social media networks in Vietnam such as Facebook have long noticed the existence of a number of pro-regime bloggers, who frequently post comments and articles supportive of the Communist Party.

The bloggers also take part in online discussions, where they fiercely attack anybody who they see as critical of the regime.

On a recent BBC Vietnamese Facebook wall - linked to a story about measures to clamp down on dissent - one such blogger asked why it was that the US "gave themselves the right to criticise other nations on human rights".

"They should have a look at their own record!" the blogger stated.

Another post criticises pro-democracy campaigners.

"The so-called democracy activists and intellectuals are becoming more and more ridiculous. They have shown their true colour as political opportunists. Their despicability has no bounds," it says.

Mr Loi said such bloggers helped a great deal in stopping negative rumours and had blocked online calls for mass gatherings in the city.

Vietnam's capital saw at least dozen public protests in 2011, but the number was greatly reduced last year.

The authorities also employ a force of 900 "public opinion shapers" who help talk up government policies and promote the party line across the country.

It is not clear whether these operatives, and the bloggers, are on official payrolls.

But they are being praised by officials as a sophisticated and effective tool in controlling public opinion.

 

[Sanchez]

Vietnam admits deploying bloggers to support government
By Nga Pham BBC News, Hanoi
12 January 2013 Last updated at 00:50 GMT

We have got a few active in defence.pk, lol

 

[Reashot Xigwin]

They're Commies, what do you expect?

Vietnam has jailed bloggers, journalists and activists it accuses of spreading anti-government propaganda as a fragile banking system, inefficient state-owned firms and corruption weigh on economic growth. The convictions threaten closer military and economic ties with the U.S. as Vietnam resists Chinese moves to assert territorial claims off its coast.

The convictions “are part of a disturbing human-rights trend in Vietnam,” the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi said in a statement today. “We call on the government to release these individuals and all other prisoners of conscience immediately.”

The U.S. cited the detention of human-rights lawyer Le Quoc Quan since Dec. 27 and sentencing of three other bloggers. In October, Vietnam jailed two musicians for spreading anti-state propaganda with songs that highlighted the growing wealth gap in the nation and urged citizens to “rise up” against invaders and “cowards who sell the country,” a reference to the dispute with China over maritime claims.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on Sept. 13 ordered a crackdown on blogs that have attacked his leadership, fueling speculation that political tensions were intensifying as economic growth slowed. Vietnam has more bloggers and Internet dissidents in detention than any other country except China and Iran, according to Reporters Without Borders.

As long as they keep it in their country.

 

[Viet]

We have got a few active in defence.pk, lol

Okay I admit I work on my money, and not for the government.

 

[Type 052D]

Okay I admit I work on my money, and not for the government.

Not you but "EastSea" and "Battle of Bach Beach". You seem an reaonable member.

 

[Götterdämmerung]

Every government does it. In communist countries it's a matter of internal affairs, in the EU and the US we hire journalists, NGOs to propagate our foreign policy and tell our folks back home how great we are. The result is the same: making us proud of our society, civilisation, life, etc., deflecting from internal problems.

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

Okay I admit I work on my money, and not for the government.

Same here for most of the PDF Chinese members, we are not hired by the Chinese government.

Only losers and trolls calling us fifty cents party when they can win a debate with civil manner.

 

[EastSea]

Not you but "EastSea" and "Battle of Bach Beach". You seem an reaonable member.

. Just idiot chinese guys on PDF made me active here.

 

[Viet]

Every government does it. In communist countries it's a matter of internal affairs, in the EU and the US we hire journalists, NGOs to propagate our foreign policy and tell our folks back home how great we are. The result is the same: making us proud of our society, civilisation, life, etc., deflecting from internal problems.

Exact. If Vietnam operates a network of 1,000 "public opinion shapers", China number would be 10,000.

 

[Götterdämmerung]

Exact. If Vietnam operates a network of 1,000 "public opinion shapers", China number would be 10,000.

Have you got a source for the numbers?

 

[Skull and Bones]

Vietnam taking cues from China.

 

[Viet]

Have you got a source for the numbers?

no source, just my guess (I said "would be"). China is more than 10 times larger in size, so I predicted 10 more false bloggers.

 

[Götterdämmerung]

no source, just my guess (I said "would be"). China is more than 10 times larger in size, so I predicted 10 more false bloggers.

10.000 is not that much either. Here, we not only have at least the same amount of highly paid journalists doing the propaganda, but also millions of brainwashed people who spew their ignorance on a daily basis just to get the feeling that due to my skin colour and my civilisation we are naturally superior.

 

[Audio]

10.000 is not that much either. Here, we not only have at least the same amount of highly paid journalists doing the propaganda, but also millions of brainwashed people who spew their ignorance on a daily basis just to get the feeling that due to my skin colour and my civilisation we are naturally superior.

Not so hard feeling superior when there's the likes of you around.

 

[terranMarine]

Not so hard feeling superior when there's the likes of you around.

With the likes of you, all white should feel superior