Public opinion brigades
Thepublic opinion brigades(Vietnamese:Dư luận viên) is a state-sponsoredweb brigadeof theCommunist Party of Vietnamor linked to the Communist Government ofVietnam.
Similar toRussia'sweb brigadesandChina's50 Cent Army,participants report that they are organized into teams and groups of commentators that participate in Vietnamese and internationalpolitical blogsandInternet forumsusingsockpuppetsand large-scale orchestratedtrollinganddisinformationcampaigns to promote pro-Vietnamese communist propaganda.
Background
It is unclear how the brigades started since theCommunist Party of Vietnam(CPVN) often controls political information. However, the earliest form of Internet propaganda supporting CPVN seems to have begun in 2007,[1]when the Government announced to "eliminate any wrong news that threaten the Party's rule". As the Communist Party is the only party allowed by Vietnamese constitution, it was the beginning of the brigades. In 2017, Lieutenant-General Nguyen Trong Nghia, deputy head of the Vietnamese military's political department, confirmed that Vietnam has a new, 10,000-strong military cyber warfare unit to counter criticisms of the government on the Internet. The cyber unit named Force 47 is active in several sectors.[2][3]
Force 47
Force 47(Lực lượng 47) is a largecyberspacemilitary unit ofVietnamrevealed in December 2017 with a focus on combating "wrong views" on the Internet.[4]Internet security firms such asVolexityandFireEyereport pro-Hanoi or Hanoi regime-sponsored hackers installedspywareon anti-government, dissident websites totrackwho visits them.[5]
Methods
The methods used are not always clear, but includes criticism of opposing views to those of the Communist Party. Vietnamese nationalists, dissidents and anti-communists claim that the CPVN has been doing this for a long time, to brainwash people's minds and distort and truth, branding who disagree with the Communist Party as "traitors of the nation".[citation needed]
BBCandDeutsche Wellecorrespondents have also reported about the brigades' activities.[6]Other Governments also accused Vietnamese Communist Party's troll army for attacking and hacking websites that criticize the CPVN.[7]
Distortion of history
The CPVN has attempted to rewrite history, including war crimes byNorth Vietnamand theViet Congduring theVietnam Warhaving been completely erased to serve the Party's agenda, promoting only themselves as the "heroes" of Vietnam.[8]
See also
- Astroturfing
- Black propaganda
- Cyberwarfare in Russia
- Fake news website
- Hasbara
- Information warfare
- Internet activism
- Internet police
- PLA Unit 61398,ChinesePLAonlinehacking&malwareimplantation unit
- State-sponsored Internet propagandain other countries:
- Internet Water Army;50 Cent Party;50 Cent Army,Chinese communist government's version ofDư luận viên
- Operation Earnest Voice
- Trolls from Olgino
- Web brigades
- Jewish Internet Defense Force
- AK Trolls
- Information security
- Vatnik (slang)
References
- ^Reed, John (26 December 2017)."Vietnam army reveals 10,000-strong cyber warfare unit".Financial Times.
- ^"Vietnam unveils 10,000-strong cyber unit to combat 'wrong views'".Reuters.December 26, 2017.
- ^"Vietnam censors to fight 'internet chaos'".BBC News.27 December 2017.
- ^Vietnam unveils 10,000-strong cyber unit to combat 'wrong views',Reuters, December 26, 2017
- ^Hookway, James (31 December 2017)."Introducing Force 47, Vietnam's New Weapon Against Online Dissent".Wall Street Journal.Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Wall Street Journal.Retrieved3 January2018.
- ^Nga Pham (12 January 2013),Vietnam admits deploying bloggers to support government,BBC News
- ^"Public opinion brigades".Owl Apps.RetrievedMay 24,2021.
- ^Vietnam: Challenges and Opportunities for Freedom of Expression,Internet Freedom Festival, 2016