Over the last few years, more attention has been focused on the impressive growth of online media in Vietnam, including social media and political blogging, as well as the government’s continued control and crackdown on them, which has slowed down the transition process. More recently, the government’s loosening of control on the online media has raised the question of whether this positive shift signals a real opening as a change of heart for long-term prospects or simply a tactical move to use online media for short-term objectives.

As there is some confusion and uncertainty about this shift, it is important not only to look at what’s going on, but also to understand how and why this has come about. For an explanation of the shift and some notions of future developments, we should put this complex issue in perspectives in order to see the deeper political dynamics and interplay of the relevant factors involved. Under certain conditions, the inconsistency and adhocracy of public policy decisions might have been influenced by factionalism, conflict of interests, pressure and fear. Sometimes, a new opportunity might be an unintended consequence of other events.

Dy Nguyen Quang graduated from the Diplomatic Academy in Hanoi with a BA (1971) majoring in English and international relations. He went to the ANU and graduated with a BA honours (1979) focusing on international and strategic studies at the Department of Political Science. He later went to Harvard as a Nieman Fellow (1992-1993).

After three decades of extensive experience in foreign service, he retired in 2005 and worked as a senior advisor for the Fulbright School in Saigon (run by Vietnam Program at Harvard) and later for the public policy training program in Hanoi (run by the ADB Institute in Tokyo). Now he lives in Hanoi and works as a part-time freelance consultant.