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The Communist Party has a strong hold on the media and the state controls all print and broadcast outlets.

Repressive laws constrain journalists and bloggers, says Freedom House. Those who report or comment on controversial issues risk intimidation and physical attack.

Bloggers and citizen journalists are the only sources of independent news, says Reporters Without Borders (RSF). But they face "ever-harsher forms of persecution".

TV is the main medium. Vietnam Television (VTV) runs the only national networks. VTV-owned satellite and cable pay TV platforms carry some foreign TVs.

Voice of Vietnam (VoV) radio networks include VoV 5, with output in English and other languages.

There are hundreds of newspapers and magazines. The Communist Party, government bodies and the military own or control almost all of them, says Freedom House

Material deemed to threaten Communist rule, including political dissent, is blocked. Censorship by means of content removal has become systematic, Freedom House said in 2018. The NGO said that the authorities had worked with Facebook to remove hundreds of accounts accused of spreading "reactionary, anti-Party" material.

A cyber security law which took effect in 2019 requires global online platforms to set up local offices and store their user data within Vietnam.

There were 84 million internet users by July 2022, comprising 89% of the population (Internetworldstats.com).