Vietnam blocks access to Telegram
Date:
Wed, 28 May 2025 13:52:47 +0000
Vietnam has blocked Telegram for failing to cooperate with authorities in halting crimes allegedly happening on the platform.
As reported by Reuters , the country's Head of the Telecom department issued the blocking order against telecommunications companies on May 21, 2025, with an obligation to report back to the ministry by June 2.
Vietnam Telegram block
As per international and local sources , Vietnamese police said that nearly
70% of the almost 10,000 Telegram channels and groups accessible in the
country contain "poisonous and bad information," Al Jazeera reported . Some groups have even been found to have links with illicit activities, like drug trafficking or terrorism.
This is why authorities decided to issue an order to all the country's
telecoms providers "to deploy solutions and measures to prevent Telegram's activities in Vietnam."
Talking to Reuters, a Telegram spokesperson said to be "surprised by those statements," adding that the team responded to legal requests from Vietnam on time.
Yet, as per what a government official told Reuters, Telegram failed to share user data with authorities when asked as required by law.
Vietnam indeed enforced a controversial law in December last year that
requires social media providers to store Vietnamese users' data and share it with authorities upon request.
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was arrested in August 2024 in France for, among
other things, failing to properly moderate the app to combat crimes occurring in the platform. After that, Telegram appears to have strengthen its
moderation policies.
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Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/vietnam-blocks-access-to-te legram-heres-all-you-need-to-know
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