VOA慢速英语--越南成立万人网军打击“错误”观点

Vietnam Launches Operation to Fight Against 'Wrong' Views

Vietnam has launched a new operation to fight what the government has called "wrong" views on the Internet.

The new cyber combat operation, Force 47, has 10,000 members. It is part of the government’s growing effort to end criticism against the state.

Lieutenant¹ General Nguyen Trong Nghia is one of the heads of the military's political department. At a Monday conference of the Central Propaganda Department, he said the operation is already at work in several areas of the government.

"In every hour, minute and second, we must be ready to fight proactively against the wrong views," he said.

Communist-ruled Vietnam has increased attempts to control the Internet. The government intends to watch social media more closely and remove material it believes is offensive.

In August, Vietnam's president said the country needed to pay greater attention to controlling news websites and blogs with “bad and dangerous” material.

Last month, a blogger was sent to jail for seven years for spreading “propaganda against the state.” The blogger had written about a massive chemical waste spill made by Formosa, a Taiwanese-owned factory in Vietnam.

The court also rejected an appeal from Me Nam, or Mother Mushroom, who is serving a 10-year jail sentence on anti-state propaganda. Me Nam had posted articles on Facebook critical of the government on human rights and civilian² deaths in police custody³.

Internet security

Vietnam is one of the top 10 countries for Facebook users. The government has written an Internet security bill asking for local placement of Facebook and Google servers. But the bill has been the subject of fierce debate at the National Assembly and is still awaiting its approval.

Its neighboring country, China, allows only local Internet companies that operate under restricted rules.

Cybersecurity firm FireEye Inc. said Vietnam had developed strong internet spying abilities in an area of the world with weak defenses.

A representative of FireEye told Reuters news agency that Vietnam is not the only nation using these abilities. He said the growing use among nations will impact governments, journalists, activists⁴ and even international companies.

He said that cyber spying is becoming more attractive to nations partly because it provides them with a lot of information while the costs are modest and risks are low.

Vietnam denies these claims.

I’m Alice Bryant.

Words in This Story

cyber - adj. computer-based

domestic - adj. of, relating to or made in your own country

blog - n. a Web site on which someone writes about personal opinions, activities, and experiences

custody - n. the state of being kept in a prison or jail

server - n. the main computer in a network which provides files and services that are used by the other computers

1 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

2 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

3 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

4 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》