Việt Nam is proposing a new three-tier censorship mechanism for books covering history and national leaders, a move that follows the recent state crackdown on the book, Conversations With Thanh.
The Latest: On the morning of Aug. 9, Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism Lâm Thị Phương Thanh told the National Assembly that the proposed amended Publishing Law would introduce “three layers of oversight” for “important, complex, and sensitive” subjects, including national leaders, history, national heroes, and leaders of the Communist Party and the state.
- However, Clause 2, Article 5 of the current Publishing Law holds: “The state does not censor works before publication.”
The Details: The proposed three layers would consist of content appraisal by the publishing house, approval of the publishing plan by its supervising agency, and further appraisal and input from the state regulator before release.
- The draft would also require publishing houses to submit legal-deposit copies to the state regulator no later than 10 days before release.
Minister Thanh said that the additional requirements were intended to protect political and ideological security and minimize errors.
- She added that the government would be authorized to issue detailed regulations, including a list of subjects requiring special oversight and deadlines for authorities to provide feedback.
However, the lead drafting agency has not released a version of the proposed amended Publishing Law containing the new provisions.
- The most recent draft made public for comment was released in early July 2026.
- During the National Assembly’s Culture and Social Affairs Committee’s preliminary review of the bill on July 11, the special oversight mechanism for publications about history and national leaders had not yet appeared.
Luật Khoa contacted the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for clarification but has not received a response.
According to the latest official announcement, the bill is expected to pass during the current National Assembly session, which runs from Aug. 3 to Aug. 24, and take effect on March 1, 2027.
Lawmakers’ Perspectives: While National Assembly deputies supported the proposed changes, they argued that the law itself should establish the basic rules instead of leaving all the details to the government.
- Nguyễn Thị Việt Nga, a deputy representing Hải Phòng, said allowing the government to determine the entire list of covered subjects and the deadlines for providing feedback—without the law defining which content would be subject to special oversight—would directly affect publishing houses’ autonomy, authors’ rights, and the interests of other parties.
- Nga called for the draft to clearly establish the principles and criteria for identifying content requiring special oversight, response deadlines, and procedures for extending those deadlines.
- Similarly, Nguyễn Vũ Trung, a deputy representing Hồ Chí Minh City, similarly said that “many provisions determining the very nature of this restrictive mechanism are being left to the government—and that is precisely where the law needs tighter rules.”
- Trung recommended limiting pre-publication review to a narrow category of works. Most other publications, he said, should remain the responsibility of publishing houses and undergo risk-based review after publication.
- For publications subject to special oversight, Trung stated that the law should specify the criteria for identifying them, the competent authorities, applicable deadlines, the responsibilities of appraising agencies, procedures for cases in which deadlines expire, and publishers’ rights to provide explanations or request reconsideration.
The Background: Current law does not establish a separate editing or publishing process for content about history or national leaders. Such subjects, however, have long been considered sensitive and are covered by numerous legal prohibitions.
- Article 8 of the 2025 Press Law prohibits publishing or broadcasting information deemed to oppose the state; distort the Communist Party’s policies or guidelines; distort history; deny revolutionary achievements; or insult the nation or national heroes.
- Article 10 of the 2012 Publishing Law prohibits publications containing material deemed to propagandize against the state; undermine national unity; distort history; deny revolutionary achievements; or insult the nation, prominent figures or national heroes.
In addition, under Article 16 of the current Publishing Law, supervising agencies do not approve publishing plans but provide guidance on annual plans. Publishing houses register their plans with the state regulator and bear responsibility for their publishing activities.
- Once a work has been printed, legal-deposit copies must be submitted no later than 10 days before release. The state regulator then reads, inspects, and appraises those copies.
On July 21, the Press Authority issued Official Dispatch No. 1317, requiring news organizations to seek input from competent authorities before publishing or broadcasting content that could be interpreted in multiple ways, lacks sufficient basis or could have a significant impact.
- The requirement conflicts with Clause 3, Article 7 of the current Press Law, which states: “The press shall not be censored before printing, transmission, broadcasting, or publication in cyberspace.”
Related Book Controversy: The book Conversations With Thanh (Chuyện với Thanh) previously sparked controversy and was accused of “rewriting history,” “insulting President Hồ Chí Minh” and “insulting the Vietnamese nation” for presenting a different account of Nguyễn Tất Thành.
- The backlash originated with individuals prominent in campaigns denouncing The Sorrow of War and an event about Trương Vĩnh Ký, including Facebook user Phan Trung Can and Lt. Gen. Nguyễn Thanh Tuấn.
Five people have since been arrested and prosecuted in connection with the book:
- Nguyễn Thành Nam, its author
- Trần Việt Anh, director of Spiderum, the media organization that promoted the book
- Nguyễn Thúy Hằng, director of the Writers’ Association Publishing House
- Đào Bá Đoàn, editor-in-chief of the Writers’ Association Publishing House
- Nguyễn Văn Yên, head of the Writers’ Association Publishing House Editorial Board
State media announced the arrests of Nam and Việt Anh on the evening of July 7; on July 15, Hà Nội police prosecuted the remaining three.
- All five are accused of “making, storing, disseminating, or propagandizing information, materials, or items aimed at opposing the state” under Article 117 of the Penal Code.
On June 10, the Writers’ Association Publishing House issued an apology, halted distribution, and recalled the book.
On June 15, the publishing house was suspended for two months and fined 100 million đồng for publishing “extremely serious false information” in Conversations With Thanh.
- On the same day, the Press Authority announced that it had penalized 23 news organizations and disciplined more than 30 people for publishing articles that “praised” the book.
Following the controversy, other authors and books were publicly denounced, including Trần Thanh Cảnh’s “Đức Thánh Trần” and Bùi Việt Sỹ’s “Chim Ưng Và Chàng Đan Sọt”.
Ministry of Culture in Other News: Former National Assembly deputy Nguyễn Sỹ Cương—the husband of Culture Minister Lâm Thị Phương Thanh—has become one of the most widely discussed figures on Threads.
- Users have accused him of causing a May 30, 2025, traffic crash in Hà Nội that killed a young woman but did not result in his prosecution.
As of 2 p.m. on Aug. 12, well over 1 million posts had mentioned the case.
- Multiple Threads users later reported that the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism had requested restrictions on access to posts about Nguyễn Sỹ Cương.
Lê Sáng wrote this news article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on August 13, 2026. The Vietnamese Magazine translated it into English.
