During President Obama’s recent visit to Vietnam, Facebook went down — and it wasn’t an accident.
Data compiled by Access Now — which has the tagline “fighting internet shutdowns around the world” — suggests Vietnam cut access to Facebook off while Obama visited due to its own upcoming elections.
Why did you block Facebook in Vietnam?????? pic.twitter.com/mnqlosw4ne
— Nguyen Le Chau Tue (@TriTue_NT) May 22, 2016
Access Now also says several civil rights activists were arrested leading up to Obama’s visit. The organization also made a loose correlation to internet shutdowns affecting trade, which was the purpose of Obama’s visit.
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It’s not the first time Facebook has been a tool of government, either. It’s been shut off in China and Iraq, and its Free Basics is wildly unpopular in India.
And if Obama’s visit really was the cause of Facebook’s Vietnam shutdown, it would explain the high-level joke from Bourdain’s tweet where he doesn’t mention the President once.
Low plastic stool, cheap but delicious noodles, cold Hanoi beer. pic.twitter.com/KgC3VIEPQr
— Anthony Bourdain (@Bourdain) May 23, 2016
via TechCrunch
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