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YouTube 'Milestone' Highlights Vietnam Growth and Growing Pains

Ha Nguyen

   HO CHI MINH CITY - The Vietnamese comedy channel FAP TV has become the
   first YouTube account to hit the 10 million subscribers mark in the
   Southeast Asian country of nearly 100 million people, according to an
   announcement on Thursday from the Asia Pacific office of Google, which
   owns YouTube.

   Vietnam has been one of the fastest growing markets for the video site,
   especially after Google invested in computer servers in the country,
   which have sped up streaming and download times. YouTube has also
   invested heavily in Vietnamese language content and advertising.

   But the process has come with growing pains, too, most notably in the
   realms of taxes and censorship. The site has blocked videos with
   content critical of the government. While these actions are taken
   following requests from the state, YouTube says it follows the same
   protocol around the world when it gets requests from governments to
   take down clips. Videos have been blocked in countries from Algeria to
   Germany, with reasons cited ranging from hate speech to terrorism.

   In its transparency report for Vietnam Google notes that it received a
   request from the Vietnamese government to remove 28 YouTube videos
   inciting violent protests during the Vietnamese Independence Day period
   (Vietnam's Independence Day is September 2). Google says it removed 12
   videos for violating YouTube Community Guidelines that prohibit
   publishing instructions to commit violent acts. It restricted access to
   4 other videos in Vietnam. The company did not remove the remaining 12
   videos.

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