A US man with a large online following in Vietnam has caused widespread anger, and faces possible criminal charges, over a Facebook post thought to have insulted a military hero.
Daniel Hauer lives in Vietnam, is married to a local woman and speaks fluent Vietnamese. He has a wide local following on Facebook and Youtube for his English language teaching videos and his observations about Vietnamese and Western culture.
But a joke about General Vo Nguyen Giap triggered widespread condemnation on social media. Hundreds of people are calling for him to stop teaching and leave the country. He has since posted an apology video, was summoned by the authorities and is now facing a fine or a warning.
Communist Vietnam has a high rate of social media usage, but exercises strict control over the internet, filtering out content deemed undermining of the government of its values. Tight control Its censorship rules have often been used to silence government critics and several dissident bloggers have been jailed.
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES Image caption Blogger Nguyen Van Hoa was sentenced to seven years in prison In 2017, popular environmental blogger Mother Mushroom received a 10-year prison sentence accused of distributing propaganda against the state.
The same year, 22-year old blogger Nguyen Van Hoa was sentenced to seven years for writing about a toxic spill from a factory poisoning millions of fish.
In 2015, activist lawyer Nguyen Van Dai was arrested without trial after already having served a lengthy sentence previously.
Three activists Vu Quang Thuan, Nguyen Van Dien, and Tran Hoang Phuc have been held since last year and are hearing charges for conducting propaganda against the state this Wednesday, according to Human Rights Watch. Mr Hauer's controversial comment was trivial, in comparison. It came last week, when the country was swept up in a wave of patriotism after its under-23s football team made it all the way to the finals of the Asian Cup, Vietnam's biggest ever football success.
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES Image caption There were huge celebrations to mark Vietnam's biggest ever football achievement
A Facebook commentator had said he would get a tattoo of the Vietnamese flag, should the country win. In a hyperbolic joke, the English teacher said that was nothing - after a Vietnamese athlete recently won a gold medal, he said, he'd got a penis piercing making his testicles resemble Gen Giap.
General Vo Nguyen Giap is revered for leading successful military campaigns against both the French and the US. He passed away in 2013, receiving a grand funeral. Fury and condemnatio Mr Hauer's flippant remark first caused widespread protests online and eventually made it into the news on national state television.
Many online commentators were not holding back with furious condemnation, asking for him to be deported, leave the country and accusing him of gross cultural insensitivity.
Yet there are also other comments pointing out that a sincere apology would be enough to eventually set things straight again while some even sympathise with him.
source:www.bbc.com
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