Vietnam may give Facebook, Google 1-year grace period
HANOI: Vietnam is proposing to allow international Internet companies such as Alphabet Inc’s Google and Facebook Inc one year to comply with a controversial cyber law that goes into effect on January 1 and requires them to open local offices and store data of Vietnamese users in the country.
The Ministry of Public Security posted a draft decree on its website on Friday on how the law would be implemented following the National Assembly’s approval in June of the legislation, which triggered protests. Vietnamese are allowed to comment on the draft decree, which must be approved by the prime minister.
The law drew dissent from some lawmakers and government leaders as well as local tech groups, who sent a petition to the legislature that warned it would hurt the economy.
The legislation pressures Google and Facebook to choose between protecting the privacy of users or growth in one of the world’s fastest-expanding economies.
The law, which requires companies to store at least 36 months of local users’ data in the country, bans the use of social networks to organise anti-state activities, spread false information or create difficulties for authorities.
Vietnam’s youthful, growing middle-class is a lure for digital companies. The country averaged economic growth of 6.3 per cent between 2005 and last year and multiplied its per capita income six-fold from 2000, according to data.