Cybersecurity in a one-party state: Policies and implications for Vietnam's economy and online freedom

Abstract

In recent years Vietnam has emerged as one of the most promising and dynamic markets globally for information and communications technology (ICT) services. This chapter provides a comprehensive assessment of Vietnam’s cybersecurity framework in two periods, prior to 2010 and from 2010 onwards. Notable cybersecurity-related strategies and policies are summarized and discussed. The chapter also analyzes the government’s evolving view towards cybersecurity, and the comprehensiveness of objectives and proposed solutions in key cybersecurity documents. It assesses the implications of cybersecurity policies on Vietnam’s economy and online freedom. Furthermore, a number of cybersecurity policies are a threat to the country’s online freedom and economic development. Online dissent is heavily suppressed, with more than two hundred bloggers, lawyers, and activists being taken into custody for their critiques of the ruling party, whose political survival is of utmost importance in the existing cybersecurity laws.