National shutdown

Reuters, citing sources within Facebook, reported that the government compelled Internet service providers, most of which are government-owned or controlled, to disrupt access to the Facebook’s servers to pressure the company to remove content critical of the state. Earlier this year, the government accused Facebook of allowing users to post “slanderous content, anti-government sentiment and libel and defamation of individuals, organisations and state agencies,” and of not acting on its request to restrict a variety of illegal content.

Through February to early April 2020, Facebook’s cache servers, which temporarily store copies of the platform’s content to allow users to access it more quickly, were taken offline, slowing access to its services, including Whatsapp and Instagram. The service disruption affected connectivity speeds in the country as Facebook's services began to overload international cables to access servers abroad.

State media initially blamed the slowdown on ongoing submarine cable maintenance, with state-owned Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) saying it was working to fix the breakdown.

In early April 2020, Facebook relented and began to step up takedowns of anti-government posts in Viet Nam.