Thayer Consultancy Background Brief:

ABN # 65 648 097 123

Vietnam: Assessing Freedom of
the Press
May 9, 2023

We request your assessment about the state of freedom of the press in Vietnam.
Q1. Have you ever witnessed some extent of freedom of the press in Vietnam?
ANSWER: I first visited reunified Vietnam in August 1981 and have returned regularly
since then. I have given numerous interviews to the Vietnamese print and online
media, radio and television. As a result, I have come to know certain journalists quite
well. I also appreciate the practical constraints they work under. For example, on
sensitive matters like relations with China and disputes in the South China Sea, I am
aware that they can quote me as a foreigner when they are not permitted to comment
on the same issue.
It is clear that since đổi mới in 1986 there has been a rapid expansion in the number
of publications produced in Vietnam and the range of topics that they cover. Although
journalists are informed at weekly meeting what they can and cannot report on, some
try to push the boundary on restrictions to inform the public. I am personally aware
that in 2008, journalists working for Tuổi Trẻ and Thanh Niên reported on corruption
in the Ministry of Transport leading to the arrest of many high-ranking officials. The
journalists were arrested and their editors were dismissed.
A decade later, Tuổi Trẻ Online was suspended for three months because authorities
charged the newspaper with misquoting the state president and publishing views that
undermined national unity.
Q2. Since General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong became the most powerful man in
Vietnam, how has freedom of the press fared in Vietnam?
ANSWER: In 2011, when Nguyen Phu Trong was first elected General Secretary of the
Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), Vietnam ranked 172 lowest out of 180 countries
surveyed by Reporters Without Borders for their World Press Freedom Index. Vietnam
has languished at the bottom of the World Press Freedom Index ever since. Vietnam
fell to 175th place in 2015 at the end of Trong’s first term in office and remained in
175th place at the end of Trong’s second term in 2020.
In 2021, Reporters Without Borders developed new methodology comprised of five
new indicators to assess press freedom across the globe. The new results were
reported in 2022 and 2023. In 2022, Vietnam ranked 174th out of 180, and fell to
178th in 2023. In 2023, Vietnam was ranked on the five indicators as follows: 163
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social (score of 32.95), 163 security (30.66) , 177 legislative (18.40), 179 political
(23.75) and 180 economic (17.16).
It should be noted that Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejects the Reporters
Without Borders World Press Freedom Index as “untrustworthy and unreliable.”
Q3. How does the CPV control the media?
ANSWER: Control and censorship over Vietnam’s media is shared between the Central
Commission for Propaganda and Education and the Ministry of Information and
Communication. They issue guidance for all state-run media including print, online,
radio, and television. All editors-in-chief and senior editors are members of the CPV.
Journalists are required to attend weekly meetings, Tuesdays in Hanoi and Wednesday
in Ho Chi Minh City, to receive guidance on what can and cannot be reported.
Newspapers and reporters who violate these guidelines can be reprimanded, fined,
dismissed or arrested, tried and imprisoned. This leads to a second form of control,
self-censorship by the journalists concerned.
Q4. Many people suggest that Vietnamese authorities open the economy and other
sectors but constrain the press to ensure that only narratives beneficial to them are
published. What is your assessment?
ANSWER: Vietnam faces a dilemma. On the one hand, high economic growth has led
to the emergence of large numbers of small and medium-enterprises who reply on
the internet for their commercial activities. On the other hand, the internet has
become the home of popular social media that often includes views at odds with the
official party line.
According to the Ministry of Information and Communication, there are an estimated
“41,000 employees engaged in journalism activities, 779 press agencies (including 142
newspapers, 612 magazines, and 25 electronic press agencies), and 72 agencies
licensed to operate radio or television, with a total of 87 radio channels and 193
television channels.”
According to DataReportal, as of January 2022, there were 72 million Vietnamese
online, or 70% of the population. Reporters Without Borders, estimates that Vietnam
has 64 million Facebook users, the seventh highest number in the world.
The CPV has intervened to control social media without shutting down the internet.
This has taken the form of applying vaguely worded articles in the Penal Code (Articles
109, 117, 156 and 331) to suppress views deemed hostile to the party line. In addition,
Force 47, a cyber unit of the Ministry of National Defence, enlists several thousand
personnel to set up web site and promote propaganda in favour of the CPV. Force 47
also attacks the individuals deemed critical of the CPV.
Q5. Is there any hope for freedom of the press in Vietnam, despite that many
prominent journalists like Pham Doan Trang are behind bars?
ANSWER: Theoretically, Vietnam’s Constitution guarantees freedom of the press. But
Vietnam’s one-party state governs by “rule by law” rather than “rule of law.” There is
no separation of powers in Vietnam between the executive, legislative and judicial
branches of government. The media in Vietnam are not the independent “Third
Estate” (representative of the common people) found in liberal democracies.
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Vietnam is unlikely to have freedom of the press on a par with liberal democracies for
the foreseeable future. However, the internet and social media will continue to be
sites of contestation between the party-state and independent journalists and
bloggers. The online platform Facebook and the messaging app Zalo will remain the
major conduits for circulating news, information and political opinion.

Suggested citation: Carlyle A. Thayer, “Vietnam: Assessing Freedom of the Press,”

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