How Vietnam’s ‘influencer’ army wages information warfare on Facebook

A Facebook page of a group called 'Believe in the Party' which was identified by Vietnamese state media as being controlled by 'Force 47' cyber troop. (Reuters)
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Updated 09 July 2021
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How Vietnam’s ‘influencer’ army wages information warfare on Facebook

  • Social media influencer groups in Vietnam, also known as 'Force 47', are an online army tasked with moderating and posting on pro-state Facebook groups.
  • Authorities in Vietnam threatened to shut down Facebook in the country entirely if it did not locally restrict access to more content and increase censorship.

HANOI: In Vietnam, where the state is fighting a fierce online battle against political dissent, social media “influencers” are more likely to be soldiers than celebrities.
Force 47, as the Vietnamese army’s online information warfare unit is known, consists of thousands of soldiers who, in addition to their normal duties, are tasked with setting up, moderating and posting on pro-state Facebook groups, to correct “wrong views” online.
According to a Reuters review of provincial-level state media reports and broadcasts by the army’s official television station, Force 47 has since its inception in 2016 set up hundreds of Facebook groups and pages, and published thousands of pro-government articles and posts.
Social media researchers say the group may be the largest and most sophisticated influence network in Southeast Asia. And it is now playing a prominent role in the country’s intensifying conflict with Facebook.
After being approached by Reuters this week, a Facebook source said the company had removed a group called “E47,” which had mobilized both military and non-military members to report posts they did not like to Facebook in an effort to have them taken down. The source said the group was connected to a list of Force 47 groups identified by Reuters.
A Facebook spokesperson confirmed that some groups and accounts were taken down on Thursday for “coordinating attempts to mass report content.” A company source said the action was one of Facebook’s largest takedowns initiated under its mass reporting policy.
But many of the Force 47 accounts and groups identified by Reuters remain active. Since they are operated by users under their real names, they do not violate Facebook policies, the company source said.
Vietnam’s foreign ministry, which handles enquiries to the government from foreign media, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the takedown.
Unlike in neighboring China, Facebook is not blocked in Vietnam, where it has 60 million to 70 million users. It is Vietnam’s main platform for e-commerce and generates around $1 billion in annual revenue for the company.
It has also become the main platform for political dissent, launching Facebook and the government into a constant tussle over the removal of content deemed to be “anti-state.”
Vietnam has undergone sweeping economic reforms and social change in recent decades, but the ruling Communist Party retains a tight grip over media and tolerates little dissent.
Last year, Vietnam slowed traffic on Facebook’s local servers to a crawl until it agreed to significantly increase the censorship of political content in Vietnam. Months later, authorities threatened to shut down Facebook in Vietnam entirely if it did not locally restrict access to more content.
In a statement to Reuters, a Facebook spokesperson said the company’s goal was to keep its services in Vietnam online “for as many people as possible to express themselves, connect with friends and run their business.”
“We’ve been open and transparent about our decisions in response to the rapid rise in attempts to block our services in Vietnam,” the spokesperson said.
Vietnam does not have the wherewithal to sustain a Chinese-style “Great Firewall” and develop local social media alternatives, said Dien Luong, a visiting fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.
“This has paved the way for Facebook to become the platform of choice for Force 47 to safeguard the party line, shape public opinion and spread state propaganda.”
’SKILLED AND MALICIOUS’
There is no official definition of what constitutes a “wrong view” in Vietnam. But activists, journalists, bloggers and — increasingly — Facebook users, have all received hefty jail terms in recent years for spreading “anti-state propaganda,” or opinions which counter those promoted by the Party.
Last week, Le Van Dung, a prominent activist who regularly broadcasts live to thousands of followers on Facebook, was arrested after more than a month on the run, according to a police statement.
Dung, who goes by “Le Dung Vova” was detained on charges of “making, storing, spreading information, materials and items for the purpose of opposing the state,” under Article 117 of Vietnam’s Penal Code.
He faces up to 20 years in prison if found guilty.
Force 47 takes its name from Directive 47, a policy document issued by the army’s General Political Department on Jan. 8, 2016. Analysts say it was created as an alternative to hiring civilian “opinion shapers” — or “du luan vien” — that had operated on a smaller, less successful scale.
“Since the ‘du luan vien’ were not as well trained in Party ideology or as conservative as military officials, their performance was not as good as expected,” said Nguyen The Phuong, a researcher at the Saigon Center for International Studies. “Force 47 is also less costly. Military officials consider it part of their job and don’t ask for an allowance.”
The size of Force 47 is not clear, but in 2017, the general in charge of the unit at the time, Nguyen Trong Nghia, said it had 10,000 “red and competent” members. The true number could be much higher: the Reuters review of known Force 47 Facebook groups showed tens of thousands of users.
The Facebook source said the E47 group it had taken action against was made up of an active membership of military and non-military members.
Nghia now heads the main propaganda arm of the Party. Vietnam’s information ministry recently promulgated a social media code of conduct that closely resembles Force 47 directives, urging people to post about “good deeds” and banning anything that affects “the interests of the state.”

’STRUGGLE ON THE INTERNET’
In March, conferences were held at military bases across Vietnam to mark five years since the creation of Force 47.
State media reports about the meetings named at least 15 Facebook pages and groups it said were controlled by Force 47 which collectively had over 300,000 followers, according to a Reuters analysis of those groups.
Rather than being a single army unit, Force 47 soldiers appear to carry out their activities alongside their usual duties and create locally targeted content, the reports revealed.
In addition to Facebook, Force 47 creates anonymous Gmail and Yahoo email addresses, and accounts on Google’s YouTube and Twitter, according to the reports.
YouTube said it had terminated nine channels on Friday for violating its policies on spam, including a channel identified by Reuters as a suspected Force 47 operation.
Twitter said it had not seen any activity by Force 47.
Many of the Facebook groups reviewed by Reuters played on patriotic sentiments with names such as “I love the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,” “Vietnam in my Heart,” “Voice of the Fatherland” and “Believe in the Party.”
Some groups, such as “Keeping company with Force 47” and “Roses of Force 47” were obvious in their affiliation, while others — such as “Pink Lotus” and a few groups that used the names of local towns in their titles — were more subtle.
The posts varied in content, with many extolling Vietnam’s army, founding leader Ho Chi Minh, or Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong. Others showed screenshots of “wrong information” posted by other Facebook users, marked with a large red “X.”
“These developments unfolding in Vietnam are scary and have expanded with impunity,” said Dhevy Sivaprakasam, Asia-Pacific policy counsel at Internet rights group Access Now.
“We are witnessing the creation of a reality where people are not safe to speak freely online, and where there’s no concept of individual privacy.”
(Reporting by James Pearson; Additional reporting by Elizabeth Culliford in New York and Fanny Potkin in Singapore; Editing by Jonathan Weber, Lisa Shumaker and William Mallard)


Arab News honored in London on its 50th anniversary

Updated 11 June 2025
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Arab News honored in London on its 50th anniversary

  • Well-attended event organized by Global Arab Network at Frontline Club discussed news in the era of digital transformation and AI
  • Attendees saw preview of “Rewriting Arab News,” a film about the newspaper’s relaunch and transformation between 2016 and 2018

LONDON: To mark the 50th anniversary of Arab News, the Global Arab Network hosted on Friday an event at the Frontline Club featuring a documentary preview and a panel discussion on the newspaper’s digital transformation and the growing impact of artificial intelligence on the future of media.

Welcoming guests, Ghassan Ibrahim, founder of the London-based Global Arab Network, commended Arab News, saying it has become “one of the most trusted newspapers in the Middle East.”

“Global Arab Network works to help people from Arab countries and other parts of the world understand each other better. They support projects that connect cultures, support development, and share news and ideas,” he said.

“Their work is similar to what Arab News does — they both want to bring the East and West closer together.”

FASTFACT

The Frontline Club in London describes itself as “a gathering place for journalists, photographers and other likeminded people interested in international affairs” that champions “independent journalism and freedom of speech; rallies the “protection of press freedom;” and “fights for the safety of freelancers in doing their important work.”

In his address, Arab News Editor-in-Chief Faisal J. Abbas said: “We thank the Global Arab Network for hosting this event and presenting the documentary. We hope that the attendees can benefit from the Arab News digital transformation success story as we all brace for an AI-led future”

He added: “For the past 50 years, Arab News has been at the forefront of technology when it comes to news gathering, verification, research and distribution. We vow to continue on this path, and our latest podcast, launched using Google NotebookLM, is a testimony to our commitment.”

The Frontline Club event in London was attended by renowned dignitaries, diplomats and journalists including Saudi Editor Othman Al-Omair, Asharq Network’s Nabeel Khatib and Al Majalla Editor in Chief, Ibrahim Hamidi.

The Frontline Club event in London was attended by renowned dignitaries, diplomats and journalists. (AN photos)
The Frontline Club event in London was attended by renowned dignitaries, diplomats and journalists. (AN photos)

Members of parliament, lecturers from British universities and former ministers and ambassadors were also among the attendees.

The event saw a preview of “Rewriting Arab News,” a short film about the newspaper’s relaunch and digital transformation between 2016 and 2018, which was presented by Global Arab Network.

The event paid tribute to the brothers Hisham and Mohammed Ali Hafiz, who launched Arab News as Saudi Arabia’s first English-language daily newspaper, from a small garage in their hometown, Jeddah, while depicting the publication’s growth and milestones in the runup to it relaunch.

The evening also discussed how Arab News is consistently launching new initiatives and projects as part of its preparations for an AI-driven future.

“In 2000, less than 7 percent of the world’s population was connected to the internet; 25 years later, more than 60 percent of the world is connected to the internet,” Abbas said.

“We are at the brink of an AI revolution that is already happening, and the evolution of the news industry continues. We hope that Arab news can continue this challenge and thrive under this challenge.”

Arab News was established in 1975 under the slogan, “The Middle East’s Leading English Language Daily,” to give Arabs a voice in English while documenting the major transformations taking place across the Middle East.

In April 2018, Arab News changed its 43-year-old logo with a new one as well as its motto to “The Voice of a Changing Region.” The newspaper relaunched with a new design and a new approach to stories that it believed was better suited to the internet age.

“Since 1975, Arab News has been the voice of the Arab world and the newspaper of record for Saudi Arabia and the wider region. As this region changes, and as the Arab world faces new challenges and new political, social and economic realities, so must that voice change. And so must Arab News,” the newspaper said in an editorial on April 4.

Arab News is marking its 50th anniversary at a shifting moment, as Lebanon and Syria form new governments and the Middle East prepares for a high-level conference on the Palestinian two-state solution, co-chaired by Saudi Arabia and France, in New York this June.

“It’s remarkable looking back at history to see the pattern of how history repeats itself, but sometimes it could be a happy ending,” said Abbas.

A panel discussion after the screening of the documentary featured Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding (Caabu); Juan Senor, partner at Innovation Media Consulting Group; and Abbas.

“Like Arab News, tech giants Apple and Google also started in garages — there’s something to be said about that,” Doyle said.

He praised Arab News for consistently reinventing itself “not just to keep up with the times, but to stay ahead of them.”

In April, Arab News launched its 50th anniversary collection, highlighting key events that shaped the Middle East over the past five decades, alongside the newspaper’s own evolution.

As part of its digital transformation efforts and complementing the anniversary project, Arab News released a podcast series last month. Produced using Google’s AI-powered research tool, NotebookLM, it features artificial hosts and AI-generated voices recounting pivotal moments that defined the region’s recent history.

Senor said: “Arab News has consistently set the standard for English-language journalism in the region, offering clarity and credibility at a time when balanced narratives about the Middle East are more important than ever.”

He added: “Arab News has played a crucial role in elevating regional voices that were often overlooked or misrepresented in international discourse — it’s journalism with purpose, not just headlines.”

As part of the same series of initiatives marking its 50th anniversary, Arab News hosted a special reception and talk last month in collaboration with Google on the opening day of the Arab Media Summit in Dubai in the UAE.

During the May 26 reception, Mona Al-Marri, director-general of Dubai Media Office, Government of Dubai, said: “I hope that all media outlets in our region follow in the steps of Arab News, because this is when you set a good working model for the whole region. … Arab News is leading this transformation.”

In a region where over 50 percent of the population is young, she added, “we should all follow this model.”

In his keynote speech at the event, Khalfan Belhoul, CEO of the Dubai Future Foundation, said: “Let’s all agree that how we create and consume media is changing dramatically. Look at the average attention span, which is eight seconds.”

He said the disruptive power of AI — from disinformation to audience mistrust — makes the “human touch” more vital than ever. “AI may be the hero of the next media chapter, but self-critique, adaptability and editorial responsibility will define its success,” Belhoul said.

Arab News, headquartered in Riyadh, has expanded its digital voice by establishing bureaus in London, Pakistan and Dubai, besides editions published in French and Japanese.


France eyes social media ban for under-15s after school stabbing

Updated 11 June 2025
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France eyes social media ban for under-15s after school stabbing

  • A secondary school pupil was arrested on Tuesday after fatally stabbing a 31-year-old school assistant during a bag search in Nogent, eastern France
  • President Emmanuel Macron said France would move ahead with a ban if the EU fails to make progress on a proposal to ban the platform for children in the coming months

PARIS: French authorities have announced plans to ban social media for under-15s and the sale of knives to minors after the murder of a teaching assistant by a 14-year-old boy plunged the country into shock.

A secondary school pupil was arrested on Tuesday after killing a 31-year-old school assistant with a knife during a bag search in Nogent in eastern France.

Friends and well-wishers left flowers and messages of support in front of the secondary school struck by the tragedy.

“We share your pain,” read one message.

Laurence Raclot, who knew the teaching assistant, Melanie, said she was “stunned.”

“She was great with kids,” Raclot said. “In a quiet little town, we never would have thought this could happen.”

A former hairdresser, Melanie had retrained and worked at the school since September. She was the mother of a four-year-old boy and a councillor in a village near Nogent.

“There are no words,” added another local, Sabrina Renault. “It’s really sad for her whole family, for that little boy who’s left without his mum.”

Pupils and parents were seen entering and leaving the school, where a psychological support unit has been set up.

The suspect will remain in police custody for a further 24 hours, until Thursday morning, a police source told AFP on Wednesday. Little information has been released about his motive.

In the wake of the attack, authorities promised a raft of measures to tackle knife crime among children.

“I am proposing banning social media for children under 15,” President Emmanuel Macron said on X on Tuesday evening. “Platforms have the ability to verify age. Let’s do it,” he added.

Backed by France and Spain, Greece has spearheaded a proposal for how the EU should limit children’s use of online platforms as evidence shows that social media can have negative effects on children’s mental and physical health.

Macron said on Tuesday that if no progress was made within several months, then France would go ahead with the ban unilaterally.

“We cannot wait,” he told broadcaster France 2.

France has in recent years seen several attacks on teachers and pupils by other schoolchildren.

In March, police started random searches for knives and other weapons concealed in bags at and around schools.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Francois Bayrou’s office said a ban on the sale of knives to minors will be implemented by a decree issued within the next two weeks.

Speaking to broadcaster TF1 on Tuesday evening, Bayrou said that the measure would come into force “immediately.”

The list will include “any knife that can be used as a weapon,” he said.

He also said parents and educators should be watching for “signs that a teenager is not doing well,” while acknowledging that there was a shortage of psychologists.

Bayrou has also called for a trial of metal detectors in schools.

Education Minister Elisabeth Borne called for a minute’s silence to be held in all French schools at midday on Thursday to honor the memory of the teaching assistant.

“The entire educational community is in shock, as is the whole nation,” she told France Inter radio on Wednesday.

Borne said she was “open to anything” to improve safety but added that ceramic blades would be invisible to metal detectors.

She also said that young people should be protected from “overexposure to screens.”

But trade unions said they were not sure how these proposals would be implemented and enforced.

“Teaching assistants have primarily educational duties within the school environment,” said Sophie Venetitay, general secretary of the SNES-FSU teachers’ union.

But, she added, “little by little, we have seen attempts to turn them into security guards.”

Remy Reynaud of the CGT Educ’action union criticized the government’s decision to introduce bag searches outside schools.

“They increase tensions,” he said.

“School management are pressuring teaching assistants to participate in the searches, which is not part of their duties.”


Musk regrets some of his Trump criticisms, says they ‘went too far’

Updated 11 June 2025
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Musk regrets some of his Trump criticisms, says they ‘went too far’

  • ‘I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far’

WASHINGTON: Elon Musk, the world’s richest person and Donald Trump’s former adviser, said Wednesday he regretted some of his recent criticisms of the US president, after the pair’s public falling-out last week.

“I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far,” Musk wrote on his social media platform X.

Musk’s expression of regret came just days after Trump threatened the tech billionaire with “serious consequences” if he sought to punish Republicans who vote for a controversial spending bill.

Their blistering break-up – largely carried out on social media before a riveted public since Thursday last week – was ignited by Musk’s harsh criticism of Trump’s so-called “big, beautiful” spending bill, which is currently before Congress.

Some lawmakers who were against the bill had called on Musk – one of the Republican Party’s biggest financial backers in last year’s presidential election – to fund primary challenges against Republicans who voted for the legislation.

“He’ll have to pay very serious consequences if he does that,” Trump, who also branded Musk “disrespectful,” told NBC News on Saturday, without specifying what those consequences would be.

Trump also said he had “no” desire to repair his relationship with the South African-born Tesla and SpaceX chief, and that he has “no intention of speaking to him.”

In his post on Wednesday, Musk did not specify which of his criticisms of Trump had gone “too far.”

The former allies had seemed to have cut ties amicably about two weeks ago, with Trump giving Musk a glowing send-off as he left his cost-cutting role at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

But their relationship cracked within days as Musk described the spending bill as an “abomination” that, if passed by Congress, could define Trump’s second term in office.

Trump hit back at Musk’s comments in an Oval Office diatribe and from there the row detonated, leaving Washington stunned.

“Look, Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore. I was surprised,” Trump told reporters.

Musk, who was Trump’s biggest donor to his 2024 campaign, also raised the issue of the Republican’s election win.

“Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate,” he posted, adding: “Such ingratitude.”

Trump later said on his Truth Social platform that cutting billions of dollars in subsidies and contracts to Musk’s companies would be the “easiest way” to save the US government money. US media have put the value of the contracts at $18 billion.

With real political and economic risks to their falling out, both appeared to inch back from the brink on Friday, with Trump telling reporters “I just wish him well,” and Musk responding on X: “Likewise.”

Trump had spoken to NBC on Saturday after Musk deleted one of the explosive allegations he had made during their fallout, linking the president with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Musk had alleged that the Republican president is featured in unreleased government files on former associates of Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while he faced sex trafficking charges.

Trump was named in a trove of deposition and statements linked to Epstein that were unsealed by a New York judge in early 2024. The president has not been accused of any wrongdoing in the case.

“Time to drop the really big bomb: (Trump) is in the Epstein files,” Musk posted on X. “That is the real reason they have not been made public.”

Musk did not reveal which files he was talking about and offered no evidence for his claim.

He appeared to have deleted those tweets by Saturday morning.


Turkish court issues arrest warrant for owner of pro-opposition TV channel

Updated 11 June 2025
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Turkish court issues arrest warrant for owner of pro-opposition TV channel

  • Arrest warrant for Cafer Mahiroglu, owner of Halk TV, issued as part of an investigation into an alleged criminal organization
  • Several main opposition CHP members including district mayors were arrested under the investigation

ANKARA: An Istanbul court has issued an arrest warrant for the owner of a television channel aligned with Turkiye’s main opposition party on charges of bid-rigging, the prosecutor’s office said late on Tuesday.

The arrest warrant for Cafer Mahiroglu, owner of Halk TV, was issued as part of an investigation into an alleged criminal organization suspected of rigging public tenders by bribing public officials.

Several main opposition CHP members including district mayors were arrested under the investigation, part of a widening legal crackdown against the jailed mayor of Istanbul, President Tayyip Erdogan’s main political rival, and the opposition.

Mahiroglu, a Turkish businessperson who lives in London, denied the charges in a post on X.

“I am being accused based on the fabricated false statements and slander of someone I have never met or seen in my life,” he said, adding that he has been living abroad for 35 years.

“So, there is a price to be the owner of Halk TV, the people’s television, and to defend democracy, rights and law.”

He did not say if he would return to Turkiye to contest the charges.

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), who leads Erdogan in some opinion polls, was jailed in March pending trial on corruption charges, which he denies.

His arrest triggered mass protests, economic turmoil and broad accusations of government influence over the judiciary and anti-democratic applications. The government has denied the accusations and said the judiciary is independent.

Since his arrest, authorities have detained dozens of CHP members, officials from the Istanbul municipality, and other CHP-run municipalities.


Media groups condemn arrest of 2 journalists aboard Madleen boat

Updated 11 June 2025
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Media groups condemn arrest of 2 journalists aboard Madleen boat

  • The journalists were identified as Yanis Mhamdi, from the independent media outlet Blast, and Omar Faiad, a reporter for Al Jazeera

LONDON: Media groups have condemned the arrest of two French journalists who were on board the Gaza-bound Madleen boat, which was intercepted by the Israeli military on Monday.

The journalists were identified as Yanis Mhamdi, from the independent media outlet Blast, and Omar Faiad, a reporter for Al Jazeera.

In a statement, the Committee to Protect Journalists called for the immediate release of journalists who were part of the pro-Palestinian convoy of activists delivering aid to Gaza as a symbolic protest against the ongoing war and to raise awareness of the humanitarian crisis.

It urged EU leaders to pressure Israel to “stop all assaults on press freedom and protect journalists.”

Condemning the arrest, Reporters Without Borders said: “Boarding a civilian vessel in international waters to intercept a crew that included two French journalists documenting a peaceful humanitarian initiative is not only illegal, but constitutes a serious violation of international law and press freedom.”

Meanwhile, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said the activists and journalists aboard the boat were deported on Tuesday morning from Ben Gurion Airport to their home countries.

“Those who refuse to sign deportation documents and leave Israel will be brought before a judicial authority, in accordance with Israeli law, to authorize their deportation. Consuls from the passengers’ home countries met them at the airport,” the Foreign Ministry posted on X.

The ministry also posted pictures of the renowned climate activist Greta Thunberg on a flight to Sweden following her deportation.