Vietnam: Big fines for social media 'propaganda'

Vietnam will hand out fines of 100 million dong ($4,740) to anyone criticising the government on social media, under a new law announced this week, the latest measure in a widening crackdown on dissent by the country's communist rulers.

Comments that did not constitute criminal offences would trigger fines if held to be "propaganda against the state", or spreading "reactionary ideology", according to the law signed by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. (Reuters)