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Accession Number:
ADA594148
Title:
Information Control: Preventing a "Vietnamese Spring"?
Descriptive Note:
Research paper
Corporate Author:
NAVAL WAR COLLEGE NEWPORT RI JOINT MILITARY OPERATIONS DEPT
Report Date:
2013-11-01
Pagination or Media Count:
24.0
Abstract:
The Communist Party of Vietnam executes strict government control over both internet infrastructure and internet content in an effort to prevent an effective anti-regime movement from forming within its borders, similar to the movements that formed in North African, Near Eastern, and Middle Eastern countries during the Arab Spring. This paper first establishes the governance structure of Vietnam and its current demographics in comparison to the demographics of the Arab Spring movement. Next, it describes Vietnams current internet information architecture and provides comparisons to some of the North African, Near Eastern, and Middle Eastern countries. It then analyzes the evolution of government internet control measures, describes the reasons for those measures, and details the enforcement of those measures, which are assessed by the international community to be human rights violations. The paper argues that the control measures are an effective tool used by the Vietnamese government to prevent the development of an anti-regime movement, and that the measures are unlikely to change. The counter-argument is that change may be realized through economic pressure from domestic and international business communities. Lastly, the paper provides recommendations for further research into the unintended far-reaching second- and third-order consequences of the strict government control measures in Vietnam.
Distribution Statement:
APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE
