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It takes an astounding level of insecurity for a government to view a conversational history book as a threat to national stability. In Việt Nam, a nation attempting to posture itself as Southeast Asia's breakout economic success , authorities remain paralyzed by an archaic fear of alternative narratives.

This escalating censorship has recently found its most absurd manifestation in the suppression of “Chuyện với Thanh” (“A Story with Thanh”), a book that explores the early life of Hồ Chí Minh, the founder of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945 and leader of North Vietnam until his death in 1969.

An innocent attempt to make historical figures relatable to modern youth has instead highlighted the state's authoritarian overreach .

The author, Nguyễn Thành Nam , is a prominent entrepreneur, a co-founder of the tech giant FPT Corporation, and a professor who previously taught Hồ Chí Minh Thought at VinUniversity, an institution backed by the country’s largest private conglomerate.

In 2019, he was also awarded a certificate of merit from former Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc for promoting the ideology and moral example of Hồ Chí Minh.

By all accounts, Nam is an establishment expert and a dedicated supporter of the government. Despite this, he is under attack for daring to humanize a figure the state perceives as a deity.

Structured as a dialogue between an apathetic Gen Z student and a teacher, “Chuyện với Thanh” aims to make history more accessible. Nam used a colloquial tone to describe Hồ Chí Minh as a young man, noting that he "rowed a boat to listen to singing," "ran errands," and was once a "30-year-old young man wandering without a job.”

For the crime of treating a historical figure like an actual human being, the state has ruthlessly muzzled its advocate.

Deconstructing the Deity

The state's reaction was swift and merciless. Accusing Nam of “ abusing academic freedom ” to hurl insults at the nation, the authorities suspended the Writers' Association Publishing House for two months, issued a 100 million đồng fine ($3,803), and ordered the recall and destruction of all printed copies.

This hysteria culminated at the Hồ Chí Minh City People's Council, where delegate Trần Thành Trọng publicly demanded a criminal investigation and prosecution of Nam for his "inappropriate language." Instead of supporting an intellectual who successfully translated state ideology for the youth, the government unceremoniously tossed him aside.

For decades, Việt Nam has painstakingly constructed an " illusory symbol " of Hồ Chí Minh, elevating a simple man into an infallible, god-like moral standard.

By relying on a " hero's journey " motif, the state deliberately ignores disastrous historical events—such as the Land Reform campaign—to project spotless perfection. This man-turned-symbol is then heavily fortified through collective rituals and nonstop reproduction across educational and public spaces, forging a rigid " political religion. "

The state's foundational myth rests on this narrative; thus, removing the halo to reveal a wandering 30-year-old man threatens to destabilize the absolute authority the party claims to have inherited. Forcing a modern society to blindly worship an unquestionable symbol, however, is an increasingly desperate strategy. As a result, the state's tightening grip is now manifesting in a broader, far more destructive purge of the public sphere.

Silencing the Public Sphere

If the state is willing to erase a loyalist professor over a conversational history book, it should come as no surprise that the broader press and digital landscape are adding an even more brutal strangulation.

Consider the implementation of Decree 174/2026 . This mandate threatens social media users with extortionate fines of up to 30 million đồng ($1,140) simply for "providing" or "sharing" journalistic works without authorization.

Unlike copyright laws in the European Union or the United States, which include clear " fair use " exemptions for news reporting and noncommercial sharing, Việt Nam's sweeping legislation functions as a trap.

In a spectacularly predictable outcome of this vaguely written threat, terrified citizens have proactively blocked official state media pages entirely to avoid hefty fines. The Ministry of Public Security's Department of Cybersecurity was embarrassingly forced to plead with citizens not to block these outlets, inadvertently highlighting how the government's heavy-handed tactics actively drive the public away from its propaganda.

Simultaneously, the traditional press is being dismantled. Under Decision No. 863 , Hồ Chí Minh City has been forced to shutter eight major publications—including historic institutions like Người Lao Động and Pháp luật TP. HCM—as part of an administrative restructuring.

In a display of irony so thick it borders on the surreal, state broadcaster VTV4 recently aired a news segment fiercely defending Việt Nam's supposedly robust press freedom. The public's response, characterized by thousands of "haha" reactions before the comment sections were locked, serves as a silent mockery of a government entirely detached from reality.

The Paradox of a Paralyzed State

By aggressively censoring moderate voices, burning books, and shuttering newspapers, the Vietnamese government is engineering its irrelevance and making governance exponentially more difficult for itself.

The administration is attempting to force a 21st-century capitalist economy—driven by foreign investment and rapid digital integration—to operate under the rigid, unquestionable moral dogma of a mid-20th-century revolutionary.

While the ruling party claims to desire innovation and economic progress, it simultaneously criminalizes the very act of sharing a hyperlink and treats historical inquiry as a threat.

When a government begins to devour its loyalist academics out of fear that a Gen Z reader might view the nation's founder as relatable, it projects weakness and fear. To survive in the modern era, Việt Nam must pivot its political legitimacy away from an aging revolutionary legacy and toward practical governance and economic development.

Instead, it chooses the path of suffocation, censorship, and friendly fire.

The suppression of “Chuyện với Thanh” and the recent media purges highlight a regime terrified of its shadow. The authorities clearly wish to retain the antiquated, monolithic image of Hồ Chí Minh as a supreme deity, wholly insulated from the complexities of actual history.

Yet, by forcing citizens into silence, threatening them with bankruptcy for sharing news because of the excessive fines, and erasing the careers of those attempting to bridge the gap between state ideology and modern reality, the state only accelerates the public's total disengagement.

The government may successfully ban a book and shutter a dozen newspapers, but a legitimacy built solely upon the threat of criminal prosecution is indistinguishable from tyranny. And the tighter the authorities tighten their grip on the narrative, the more the future slips away from them.

References: +

Trường Tộ, “Book on Nguyễn Tất Thành Faces Backlash Over Accusations of 'Distorting History' in Việt Nam,” The Vietnamese Magazine , June 6, 2026. https://thevietnamese.org/2026/06/book-on-nguyen-tat-thanh-faces-backlash-over-accusations-of-distorting-history-in-viet-nam/

Thành Phương, “Hồ Chí Minh City Delegate, Trần Thành Trọng, Calls for the Criminal Prosecution of Nguyễn Thành Nam,” The Vietnamese Magazine , June 25, 2026. https://thevietnamese.org/2026/06/ho-chi-minh-city-delegate-tran-thanh-trong-calls-for-the-criminal-prosecution-of-nguyen-thanh-nam/

Thành Phương, “Việt Nam Social Media Users Block State News Pages Over Decree 174/2026 Fines, The Vietnamese Magazine , July 1, 2026. https://thevietnamese.org/2026/07/viet-nam-social-media-users-block-state-news-pages-over-decree-174-2026-fines/

Lê Sáng. Press Outlets' “Final Editions Mark the End of a Journalism Era in Hồ Chí Minh City,” The Vietnamese Magazine , June 30, 2026. https://thevietnamese.org/2026/06/press-outlets-final-editions-mark-the-end-of-a-journalism-era-in-ho-chi-minh-city/

Trường An, “Sharing News Articles in Việt Nam Could Incur a US$1,140 Fine,” The Vietnamese Magazine , July 2, 2026. https://thevietnamese.org/2026/07/sharing-news-articles-in-viet-nam-could-incur-a-us1140-fine/

Đan Thanh, “The Hồ Chí Minh Myth: Why Việt Nam's Government Relies on the Symbol,” The Vietnamese Magazine , July 3, 2026. https://thevietnamese.org/2026/07/the-ho-chi-minh-myth-why-viet-nams-government-relies-on-the-symbol/

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