It was a big deal for the people of Vietnam when the President of the United States visited their country earlier this week. But sadly, posting about the event on Facebook proved rather difficult.
Reuters cites sources from two activist organisations — Access Now and Viet Tan — that both claim Facebook was “restricted and at times blocked” in Vietnam during the presidential visit. Those interventions were apparently in place for the duration Obama’s trip, from Sunday to Wednesday.
The restrictions were, according to the sources, put in place so that people were unable to organise protests via the social network. Reuters explains that it’s not the first time that Vietnam has blocked Facebook — apparently it did so earlier this year when protests broke out over fish stocks and ahead of parliamentary elections.
Nor is it alone. China, Uganda, Turkey and North Korea have all been known to censor social networks in the past.
[Reuters]