A protest movement has sprung up against Sun Group’s Ba Vì Safari project near Hà Nội as many Threads users have defended local residents facing forced land clearance.
The Latest: In recent days, the Ba Vì Safari has trended on the social media platform Threads, drawing thousands of discussions even as many posts keep being hidden or deleted at the request of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS).
- Since Oct. 18, many Threads users have been posting slogans such as “Stand with Ba Vì,” “Free Ba Vì,” and “All eyes on Ba Vì” in support of residents affected by Sun Group’s Ba Vì Safari Park project.
- This echoes another protest movement against Vingroup’s project on the Hải Vân Pass.
From Social Media: Several Threads users continue to share updates and express solidarity.
On Oct. 19, the account binhminh.t*** posted a video under the topic “#Ba Vì” with the caption: “Last night there were 8k [8,000] posts; this morning it’s down to 7k. Stand with Ba Vì. All eyes on Ba Vì. Today it’s Ba Vì; tomorrow it could be our homes.”
- As of 2 p.m. on Oct. 20, the post had drawn 5,900 likes, 163 replies, 380 reposts, and 77 shares.
Similarly, the account yeu_doi.la*** wrote: “Stand with Ba Vì. Free Ba Vì. Where is the ‘state of the people, by the people and for the people’? What is wrong with people demanding their rights on land they have lived on for generations?”
- The post drew 525 likes and 25 replies.
The account bluecvnt2*** wrote in English: “Don’t let them silence us. Stand with Ba Vì.”
Some accounts switched to the same profile picture: the words “Stand with Ba Vì” in red over a landscape of Ba Vì Mountain.
- The account ghostroots__wannady***, for example, posted the image with the call to “Change your avatar.” This post drew 714 likes and 103 reposts.
In another post, the same user (ghostroots__wannady) wrote: “I support the people of Ba Vì. I support those who are oppressed. I support democracy and transparency. The state needs a satisfactory solution to what is happening. They always chant the slogan about our ‘golden forests and silver seas,’ yet they let a private conglomerate exploit them to subdivide and sell land and run services for the upper-middle class, blatantly seizing people’s land and cutting the people’s words. […]”
- The post drew 353 likes.
Prior Threads Movements: Since mid-2026, Threads has become a place where young users speak out together about cases on which state media stays silent or reports only one side. Many of those waves of posts were later blocked or removed.
Starting in early July, Vingroup’s Vân village project at the foot of the Hải Vân Pass in Đà Nẵng faced a wave of opposition on Threads over concerns about the landscape and environment.
- Large numbers of posts criticizing the project were then removed by Threads and Facebook.
In August, former National Assembly deputy Nguyễn Sỹ Cương became one of the top trending topics on the platform, with more than 1 million posts as of Aug. 12.
- The posts concerned allegations that he caused a 2025 crash that killed a female student but was never held criminally responsible.
- Threads users laid flowers at the “justice tree” near the scene, then created an online “memorial tree” after police cleared away the flowers.
- The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism later blocked accusations against Cương on Threads, and the MPS followed by blocking them on Facebook.
Also in August, after VTV24 aired a report claiming that Threads users had used a “fake crowd” to stir up controversy over the Tuyên Quang specialized high school case, the community fired back.
On Oct. 5, many Threads accounts protested the MPS’s request that Meta block the “Con ghét bố mẹ” (Children Who Hate Their Parents) Facebook group, which had nearly 400,000 members.
- They compared the move with failures in child protection.
The Background: On Oct. 9, the Hà Nội People’s Committee issued Decision 5648, approving the investment policy for the Ba Vì Safari Park project and approving Sun Group’s real estate arm, Mặt Trời Real Estate Group JSC, as the investor.
- It also ordered the Department of Agriculture and Environment and the Ba Vì Commune People’s Committee to “ensure completion” of site clearance for “all or part of the land within the project area” by Dec. 8 at the latest, even though Ba Vì residents still oppose the project.
- Authorities also promised to consult residents, but there is no sign that any consultation has taken place.
Why It Matters: The movement broke out just as many Threads users reported that their posts about the project had been restricted in Việt Nam on Oct. 17 and 18, because Meta had “received a request from Việt Nam’s Ministry of Public Security,” as Luật Khoa reported.
Thành Phương wrote this news article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on October 20, 2026. The Vietnamese Magazine translated it into English.
