Facebook increased Vietnam content restrictions by 500% during 2018: report

epa04901364 (FILE) A file picture dated 28 November 2013 shows a man using the social networking site Facebook on his phone at a cafe in Hanoi, Vietnam. More than one billion people logged into the social media network Facebook in one day, marking a new record for the company, said Facebook co-founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg on 27 August 2015. The 31-year-old entrepreneur said the milestone was the 'beginning of connecting the whole world,' according to a message on his Facebook site. EPA/LUONG THAI LINH

HANOI: Facebook increased the amount of content it restricted access to in Vietnam by over 500% in the last half of 2018, the US social media giant said in a report released on May 24, as the South-East Asian country ramps up its crackdown on online dissent. 

The increase happened as Vietnam was tightening Internet restrictions, culminating in a cybersecurity law that came into effect this January, which requires companies to set up local offices and store data in the country.