Read more on this topic in Vietnamese.
Vietnam’s tough new traffic rules have come in for a rough ride on the information superhighway.
The regulations came into force at the beginning of the year, with steep penalties for running red lights, riding motorbikes on sidewalks or using phones while driving.
A resident of the capital, Hanoi, has become the first to be taken to task for criticizing Decree 168 on social media, according to a government post on Facebook on Thursday.
Dang Hoang Ha, 51, was accused of posting photos and videos on the social media site “containing misleading information … in order to provoke protests and social unrest.”
The Ministry of Public Security posted a video on its Facebook page showing Ha being questioned by the police.
It said Ha’s comments on his own page included “Saigon people took to the streets to protest because of Decree 168,” “The faster people die, the better,” “Traffic police are out in force, blocking the streets,” and “A motorbike taxi driver was ‘disfigured’ because he was fined 5 million dong.”
Ha admitted to criticizing the new fines using provocative and misleading words and promised not to do it again, according to the post.
“I admitted my mistake, now I agree to delete all my old posts,” Ha said on the video. “I will not repeat by mistake again.”
Radio Free Asia could not reach Ha using the phone number listed in the police report and attempts to contact him on Facebook were unsuccessful.
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In recent years the government has cracked down on social media posts it saw as a threat, jailing critics for “propaganda against the state,” under Article 117 of the criminal code and “abusing democratic freedoms,” under Article 331.
“When a government starts using authoritarian censorship and control decrees to prevent ordinary people from complaining about traffic conditions, it is clear that the government is afraid of its own people,” Phil Robertson, director of Asian Human Rights and Labour Advocates, told RFA.
Translated by RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Mike Firn.