The OpenNet Initiative has published a report into online censorship in Vietnam. Their main finding is that, although the government claims it only wants to deny access to online pornography, it is actually far more interested in blocking access to political and religious websites.

The report, published last week, says the government is using increasingly sophisticated filtering techniques to block access to sites that could threaten the country’s one-party system, on topics such as political dissidents, democracy and Buddhism.

Sites written in Vietnamese are far more likely to be blocked than those in English. Internet usage in cybercafes, the most common way to access the web in Vietnam, is checked regularly, the report says.

The report is the latest in a series of case studies that address Internet filtering by states worldwide and you can read it in full by clicking here.

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