Vietnam to block ads on 'toxic' online content in further crackdown

State's blacklist may affect Facebook and YouTube users as well as TikTok stars

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The communist government will also introduce a whitelist of sites that are safe for ads in early 2023. (Source photos by Getty Images and Ken Kobayashi)

LIEN HOANG, Nikkei staff writer

HO CHI MINH CITY -- Vietnam is drafting a blacklist of websites -- including individual user accounts on YouTube and Facebook -- that will be barred from receiving advertising revenue if they are deemed to have posted anti-government or otherwise "toxic" content.

Hanoi said it will "strictly punish" companies that advertise on such sites, a move campaigners fear will add to a climate of less "free expression than ever."

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