392
Vietnam
company that held 10 percent of the market share in November 2010, making it the
third largest ISP in the country after Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications and
Viettel.
54 Evidence of fi ltering was found on both ISPs, with Viettel blocking signifi -
cantly more Web sites than FPT Telecom.
Testing on FPT Telecom was conducted by ONI in September 2010. The content of
the blocked Web sites fell into four broad thematic categories: political, social, confl ict
and security, and Internet tools. Testing on Viettel was conducted by the ONI in
October 2010. Like FPT Telecom, the content of Viettel ’ s blocked Web sites fell into
the same four broad thematic categories: political, social, confl ict and security, and
Internet tools.
When users attempt to access blocked Web sites on both ISPs, they encounter a
standard network error page. Technical analysis of the data from each ISP revealed
that these errors were the result of a form of DNS tampering, where the entries for
blocked Web sites are removed from the ISPs ’ DNS servers.
The blocking pattern of the ISPs refl ects the government ’ s concerns about content
that challenges its authority. Both ISPs fi lter Web sites with Vietnamese-language
content that is critical of the Vietnamese Communist Party and that argues for political reform, such as http://x-cafevn.org and the Web site of the Viet Tan ( http://viettan
.org ). Vietnamese-language Web sites operated outside of Vietnam are also a target of
fi ltering. This includes Web sites that critique the party, such as the Web sites of the
Vietnam Daily News based out of California ( http://vietnamdaily.com ) and the H u’ ó’ ng
D u’ ó’ ng based out of Australia ( http://huongduong.com.au ). Vietnamese-language
news Web sites operating overseas that are not necessarily critical of the Vietnam state
but contained news stories about Vietnam are also fi ltered by both ISPs, including D â n
Vi ê
˙
t ( http://danviet.com.au ), Vietmedia ( http://vietmedia.net ), and Vi ê
˙
t B á o Online
( http://vietbao.com ). Two Web sites related to the Degar people in Vietnam — an ethnic
minority with whom the state has had a history of confl ict — are also blocked ( http://
montagnard-foundation.org and http://montagnards.org ).
Web sites of international human rights groups were accessible with the exception
of Human Rights Watch ( http://hrw.org ), which was found blocked on Viettel. FPT
Telecom, which blocked Human Rights Watch in 2007 – 2008 testing, did not block the
Web site in 2010 testing. English- or French-language Web sites with content on
Vietnam were rarely blocked, with the exception of Radio Free Asia ( http://rfa.org ),
which was blocked by both ISPs. Blocking of foreign media Web sites was infrequent
and inconsistent. An exception is that both the English- and Vietnamese-language
version of Voice of America were found blocked on Viettel and FPT.
OpenNet Initiative testing found inconsistencies in the level of fi ltering between
the two ISPs. For instance, the Vietnamese-language news Web site of Vietnamese
American Television ( http://vietmaryland.com ), which is critical of the Vietnamese
government and based out of the United States, was found blocked on Viettel but not
Vietnam
company that held 10 percent of the market share in November 2010, making it the
third largest ISP in the country after Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications and
Viettel.
54 Evidence of fi ltering was found on both ISPs, with Viettel blocking signifi -
cantly more Web sites than FPT Telecom.
Testing on FPT Telecom was conducted by ONI in September 2010. The content of
the blocked Web sites fell into four broad thematic categories: political, social, confl ict
and security, and Internet tools. Testing on Viettel was conducted by the ONI in
October 2010. Like FPT Telecom, the content of Viettel ’ s blocked Web sites fell into
the same four broad thematic categories: political, social, confl ict and security, and
Internet tools.
When users attempt to access blocked Web sites on both ISPs, they encounter a
standard network error page. Technical analysis of the data from each ISP revealed
that these errors were the result of a form of DNS tampering, where the entries for
blocked Web sites are removed from the ISPs ’ DNS servers.
The blocking pattern of the ISPs refl ects the government ’ s concerns about content
that challenges its authority. Both ISPs fi lter Web sites with Vietnamese-language
content that is critical of the Vietnamese Communist Party and that argues for political reform, such as http://x-cafevn.org and the Web site of the Viet Tan ( http://viettan
.org ). Vietnamese-language Web sites operated outside of Vietnam are also a target of
fi ltering. This includes Web sites that critique the party, such as the Web sites of the
Vietnam Daily News based out of California ( http://vietnamdaily.com ) and the H u’ ó’ ng
D u’ ó’ ng based out of Australia ( http://huongduong.com.au ). Vietnamese-language
news Web sites operating overseas that are not necessarily critical of the Vietnam state
but contained news stories about Vietnam are also fi ltered by both ISPs, including D â n
Vi ê
˙
t ( http://danviet.com.au ), Vietmedia ( http://vietmedia.net ), and Vi ê
˙
t B á o Online
( http://vietbao.com ). Two Web sites related to the Degar people in Vietnam — an ethnic
minority with whom the state has had a history of confl ict — are also blocked ( http://
montagnard-foundation.org and http://montagnards.org ).
Web sites of international human rights groups were accessible with the exception
of Human Rights Watch ( http://hrw.org ), which was found blocked on Viettel. FPT
Telecom, which blocked Human Rights Watch in 2007 – 2008 testing, did not block the
Web site in 2010 testing. English- or French-language Web sites with content on
Vietnam were rarely blocked, with the exception of Radio Free Asia ( http://rfa.org ),
which was blocked by both ISPs. Blocking of foreign media Web sites was infrequent
and inconsistent. An exception is that both the English- and Vietnamese-language
version of Voice of America were found blocked on Viettel and FPT.
OpenNet Initiative testing found inconsistencies in the level of fi ltering between
the two ISPs. For instance, the Vietnamese-language news Web site of Vietnamese
American Television ( http://vietmaryland.com ), which is critical of the Vietnamese
government and based out of the United States, was found blocked on Viettel but not