R@D: Case Study on Vietnam’s Blogger Movement

Written by Mary Joyce on April 6, 2009 – 9:40 pm -

Note: Although this article was not produced for R@D, we found it to be an excellent overview of the digital activism context in Vietnam and are publishing it here with the consent of the authors.

The purpose of Research@DigiActive (R@D) is to produce applied, thought-provoking, actionable research at the cutting edge of Digital Activism. It seeks to highlight and disseminate studies in the new academic field of digital activism by publishing short papers by promising scholars. To submit a paper or get more information, please contact our Director of Applied Research, Patrick Meier, at Patrick AT Digiactive.org.

Title: Vietnam’s Blogger Movement: A Virtual Civil Society in the Midst of Government Repression

Authors: Duy Hoang, Cuong Nguyen, and Angelina Huynh
of the pro-democracy organization Viet Tan

Abstract: Despite the increasing popularity of social media in Vietnam, government persecution of online political activists have put significant limitations on digital activism in that country. The paper begins by discussing popular technology platforms and summarizing the success stories of online citizen journalism. However, the actions of the government to curtail online activism – blocking of critical sites, collaboration with foreign companies to create a censorship mechanism similar to the Great Firewall of China, and imprisonment of digital activists – has made the overall outlook bleak. The paper ends with policy recommendations for those outside the country who wish to support the human rights of and online freedom of expression of those in Vietnam.

Read the publication…


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Posted in Asia, R@D | 2 Comments »


2 Responses to “R@D: Case Study on Vietnam’s Blogger Movement”

  1. By Mike on Apr 7, 2009 | Reply

    I’ve been a big fan of this website, and I’ve always looked forward to the examples, but I can’t help to notice that lately the quality of posts has diminished significantly. As an academic and researcher myself, it is hard for me to see how the attached file is considered a research paper. It is a short ngo prospectus at best.

  2. By Mary on Apr 8, 2009 | Reply

    Hi Mike,

    I’m glad that you are a fan of this site and sad that you think the post quality has “fallen off significantly.” Please feel free to follow-up by email. We are always trying to improve our content. You can reach me at Mary AT DigiActive DOT org.

    With regard to this particular article, I consider it a useful case study on the Vietnamese digital activism context, albeit from an organization with a particular political perspective.

    Mary

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