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Students in Vietnam have been coming under pressure to share and “like” a Facebook post promoting the political theories of Communist Party General Secretary To Lam.
The article, titled “Firmly and Adamantly Rejecting Distorted Rhetoric About the Nation’s New Era,” discussed the phrases “the new era” and “the era of national rise,” with which To Lam has peppered his speeches since becoming Communist Party General Secretary last year.
A student at a high school in Dak Lak province told Radio Free Asia that on Feb. 18, he received a text message from his class’s Youth Union secretary, instructing him to like, react with a heart emoji, and share the article posted on the Facebook page Hung thieng Tay Nguyen (Holy and Heroic Central Highlands) which describes itself as a “news and media site” although it is unclear who runs it.
The Youth Union is Vietnam’s largest youth organization and operates under the leadership of the Communist Party.
The 200-word Facebook post – since restricted from general users – is an excerpt from an article on the Communist Party’s online portal. It defends the argument that, “the new era – the era of national rise – is a well-founded concept, not vague as hostile forces have distorted it to seem.”
Vietnam is entering a period of growth and prosperity under the party’s leadership, the article argues. It also discusses efforts to reform leadership methods, streamline government operations, promote a digital transformation, combat corruption and waste, and develop a comprehensive economic and social strategy, all key Lam policies. The article calls on citizens to counter “hostile narratives about the nation’s rise” and asks everyone from the party to the people to familiarize themselves with the goals and tasks of the new era.
The student told RFA Vietnamese he was told to like and share the post the same day
“We were told to take a screenshot and send it to student leaders before 9 p.m. the same night,” said the student, who didn’t want to be identified for fear of reprisals.
However, he said he ignored the order because he thought the article was boring.
Another student, who also declined to be named, said he shared the post despite feeling “annoyed” about the request, adding that he only skimmed the article. He said all of his classmates were told to share the post but some told him they hadn’t bothered.
RFA called the phone number listed on the Facebook page of Huynh Thuc Khang High School’s Youth Union. A man who identified himself as the school principal but who didn’t give his name said the school had nothing to do with the request for students to like and share the post. He also declined to provide contact information for the school’s Youth Union secretary.
RFA emailed the school’s Youth Union and sent text messages to Buon Ho town’s Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union to verify the information about the Facebook campaign but no one replied.
Widespread request
RFA checked the post before it was restricted and saw that pupils from other schools in Dak Lak had also shared, “liked” and put heart emojis on it.
A screenshot of a phone message from a student leader shared by a student, but not verified by RFA, explained how to share a short link to the post using the site 263.org.vn which is used by Youth Union officers.
The instructions were to: “click the ‘like’ or ‘heart’ button or leave a positive emoji; share the post en masse on all [Facebook] pages and groups of agencies, units, and personal Facebook accounts of party members, cadres, youth union members, young people, and children; and comment with positive content/feedback or expressions of approval to react to the post,” from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Feb. 18.
It included a link to a page, since deleted, featuring 36 suggested comments praising the “new era,” a phrase introduced by Lam last August.
The Facebook post, which was put up at 3:40 p.m. on Feb.18, generated approximately 1,500 likes, 1,500 comments and 1,900 shares as of 6:00 p.m. on Feb. 19 before being blocked from general view.
It generated comments from various Dak Lak student unions and hundreds from personal accounts, most of which had few posts or locked profiles.
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Communist Youth Union branches in other parts of Vietnam made similar requests of students. None of them responded to RFA’s emails.
“Many agencies and organizations have monthly quotas for the number of likes and comments they want to see. Those who fail to fulfill the quota may be ‘evaluated’ in terms of moral conduct,” said Ho Chi Minh city-based journalist Nam Viet.
“Thousands of comments and likes with heart emojis have been made to comply with the above requirements. However, in many cases, participants couldn’t even understand the content of the posts.”
Translated by Ann Vu. Edited by Mike Firn.