Vietnam dropped in the ranking near the “bottom” of press freedom in 2023, ranking 178th out of 180 countries in the world, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
A representative of this organization told VOA that the reason for Vietnam’s drop in rankings is because the faction of the head of the Communist Party is increasingly silencing the voices of opponents in the internal struggle.
On May 3, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of World Press Freedom, RSF announced the press freedom rankings for 2023, according to which the three Asian countries at the bottom of the table were Vietnam, ranked 178th; China 179; and North Korea 180.
Thus, Vietnam, where the government prides and promotes “revolutionary journalism,” has dropped from 174th place in 2022 to near the bottom of the table this year, and also the lowest level since the RSF public annual ranking from 2002 to present.
Reason for drop
According to RSF, an organization based in the French capital, Paris, the reason Vietnam has dropped in the rankings is because the Hanoi government has “almost completed the hunt for independent journalists and commentators” on social networks.
“Vietnam’s drop in rankings in 2023 is the result of the relentless crackdown on independent media under General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s tenure. Through arrests and heavy prison sentences, Trong has succeeded in suppressing the enormous dynamism of online journalism in Vietnamese society, as well as efforts to create a debate within the official media,” Daniel Bastard, director of RSF’s Asia-Pacific division, told VOA by email when the organization released the 2023 rankings.
Mr. Bastard said the latest illustration of the “consequences” of this repression was the recent arrest of journalist Duong Van Thai, who was seeking asylum in Thailand. “This means that Nguyen Phu Trong’s faction is hunting down its opponents and across borders who openly speak out about intra-party infighting,” Bastard wrote.
Previously, on April 27, RSF also condemned the Vietnamese government’s arrest of Mr. Duong Van Thai on April 14 in Ha Tinh due to “illegal entry” while his friends said that he was kidnapped in Thailand by the Vietnamese secret service.
“The police did not even respect their own rules in deciding what to do with him,” said Daniel Bastard in a statement from RSF about Ha Tinh police arresting Mr. Thai. This case is a sad example of the horrific level of contempt with which the government tramples on the rule of law and freedom of the press.”
This year, the specific indicators of Vietnam listed by RSF include the political index at 179, the economic index at 180, the legislative index at 177, and both the social index and the security index at 163.
For many consecutive years, Vietnam has remained in the top 10 worst countries in the world for press freedom, that is, the index’s red list, which includes countries with a “very bad” press situation.
According to the RSF report, Vietnam’s mainstream media is heavily censored by one-party, and the frequent imprisonment of independent reporters and bloggers makes Vietnam the third largest prison in the world for journalists.
Vietnam is currently holding 42 journalists behind bars in the past year, according to RSF statistics.
Since taking office as General Secretary for the first term in 2011, Nguyen Phu Trong, who is really in power in Vietnam, has been repeatedly put on the list of “world enemies of press freedom” by RSF, and among 20 world leaders “preying” journalists and media agencies.
RSF said that “Mr. Trong has established a system of relentless repression to deal with a civil society that is increasingly seeking reliable information, especially on the Internet.”
VOA contacted Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ask for comments on the release of the RSF’s 2023 press freedom ranking but has not yet received a response.
Voices agreeing
Independent journalists, bloggers and activists at home and abroad expressed their agreement with RSF’s latest ranking.
Independent journalist Vo Van Tao in Khanh Hoa, who used to working as a reporter for state newspapers, shared his opinion with VOA:
“RSF’s ranking on press freedom this year, 2023, Vietnam drops to 178, which means that it is among the bottom three countries, just above of China and North Korea. That is a very sad thing!”
“I think this ranking is relatively accurate in that Vietnamese press freedom is increasingly stifled.”
In a similar judgement, an activist and dissident blogger in Ho Chi Minh City, asked not to be named, commented to VOA:
“The RSF press freedom ranking reflects the reality of Vietnam in the past year. After a series of arrests, almost no one dares to speak out against social injustice openly on social networks.”
“Even Duong Van Thai, a freelance journalist who is currently in exile in Thailand, was kidnapped and taken back to Vietnam, despite international law. With such brutal repression, I think the winter for Vietnamese journalism will last for at least a few more years,” this person added.
“As a Vietnamese, there is no one who is not ashamed that the press freedom index of Vietnam is only better than that of the two most brutal dictatorial communist states, China and North Korea. Totalitarian regimes in communist countries hold people more tightly than in militaristic countries like Myanmar, Thailand, and theocratic regimes like Iran, Saudi Arabia, etc.,” the activist did not want to mention his name shared with VOA.
From Berlin, Germany, journalist Le Trung Khoa, editor of the Vietnamese-language newspaper Thoibao.de, stated:
“RSF’s assessment that Vietnam’s ranking drop this time compared to previous years is completely correct because in recent times people have also witnessed the increasingly violent repression by the Vietnamese government against social media writers, YouTubers, and people expressing their opinions peacefully and they received very heavy sentences for many very gratuitous reasons.”
“The most recent is the fact that they seem to defy international law and continue to take actions that are said to kidnap a pretty famous blogger, Duong Van Thai, who is a refugee in Thailand.”
“This shows that the Vietnamese government is increasingly cracking down on bloggers, journalists, or people who express their opinions on social media.”
From Paris, former prisoner of conscience Pham Minh Hoang, who was sentenced to 3 years in prison and 3 years of probation by the Vietnamese government for “activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s administration,” commented to VOA:
“What I think everyone realizes is that in Vietnam there is absolutely no freedom of the press.”
“In the past three years, after Pham Chi Dung, famous journalists like Truong Chau Danh Huu, Pham Doan Trang and others have all been arrested and imprisoned. I think that perhaps because of such brutal repression, Vietnam’s ranking has to drop.”
From Houston, Texas, blogger Mother Mushroom, ie Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, commented on press freedom in Vietnam:
“The biggest difficulty of the current Vietnamese state media, in my opinion, is the freedom to operate and report information honestly, objectively and independently, because of the characteristics of Vietnamese censorship and propaganda in nature.”
“Although there are more than 700 newspapers and many television stations, the news bulletins all serve the same content as propaganda, so the biggest difficulty is freedom, independence and objectivity.”
From the US and Vietnamese governments
The announcement ceremony of the RSF 2023 press freedom rankings on May 3 took place with the participation of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and he had an interview with the Washington Post, which cooperates with RSF in the Press Freedom Partnership.
“Too many governments use repression to silence free speech, including through retaliation against journalists simply for their work,” Blinlen said in a statement.
“Prison is not the only threat reporters face. Journalists covering violent conflict and corruption are subject to intimidation and kidnapping, often with impunity. Elsewhere, journalists face discrimination, censorship, and a weaponized justice system.”
“The United States has a responsibility to promote and embody the values of a free press around the world,” said Clayton Weimers, RSF’s Washington DC office manager. “Secretary Blinken’s attendance at this online event is a welcome commitment to those values. We look forward to continuing to work together to create even more concrete actions to help keep journalists around the world safer and protect everyone’s right to information.”
Earlier, in an email to VOA regarding the Vietnamese government’s imprisonment of journalist Nguyen Lan Thang, the US State Department spokesman said: “Vietnam is an important partner in the Indo-Pacific and that partnership can only reach their full potential if the Vietnamese government takes concerted steps to meet its obligations and commitments under international law and improve its human record rights.”
The Vietnamese government has so far denied accusations of suppressing press freedom, and always affirms that freedom of speech, freedom of the press and freedom of information in Vietnam are still expressed in various forms.
Commenting on the RSF’s rating last year (2022), the Vietnamese government said that the RSF’s assessment content “continues to ignore the reality of ensuring freedom of speech and press freedom in Vietnam” and RSF have made “biased, unobjective and completely baseless assessments when classifying Vietnam as a country with ‘little press freedom’.”
In addition to the RSF, international organizations such as Freedom House (Washington DC), the Fraser Institute (Vancouver, Canada), or the Global Civil Society Alliance (Civicus) also say that the press freedom and freedom of speech in Vietnam are restricted.
Freedom House’s 2023 assessment said that Vietnam “does not have press freedom” with only 19/100 points for general freedom, 22/100 points for Internet freedom. The latest ranking by the London-based World Economic Research Organization rated Vietnam as having a “very bad” score for press freedom, with only 28.2/100 points, and political rights only 14/100 points. The Fraser Institute’s 2022 report shows that Vietnam ranks 132 out of 165 countries in the overall freedom ranking, with personal freedoms (5.08/10), economic (6.42/10) and human rights. (5.64) is only average, lower than Cambodia and Thailand. Meanwhile, the Global Coalition for Civil Society (Civicus) ranks Vietnam in the group of 7 countries and territories in Asia that have a “closed” space with civil society – which means that freedom of speech, peaceful assembly and association are not respected by the government.
Thoibao.de (Translated)
