February 13, 2009 Dear Colleague: The San Francisco Chronicle recently reported on the growing fear among the Vietnamese people that the Government of Vietnam is creating a Vietnamese version of China's "Great Firewall", which is an online censorship program that blocks websites that are critical of the Chinese government. As the number of Vietnamese citizens who express their views on personal blogs and websites continues to grow, the Government of Vietnam is taking steps to further tighten its control over the internet resources available to the Vietnamese people. We are extremely concerned with the ongoing internet restrictions and the increasing number of Vietnamese bloggers who are constantly being harassed and detained for using the internet to peacefully protest against the Government of Vietnam. The Vietnamese Ministry of Information and Communication recently stated that they were planning to approach major internet service providers including, Yahoo and Google to request their help in policing the internet. We must show support for unrestricted internet access for the people of Vietnam. Please join the Congressional Caucus on Vietnam in applauding Google, Yahoo and Microsoft's recent decisions to join the Global Network Initiative, a human rights coalition that works to help companies stand up to authoritarian governments such as Vietnam. In addition, it is important that we urge these internet service providers to continue advocating for the freedoms of speech and expression on the internet in Vietnam. If you would like to sign on to this letter, please contact Annie Yea on my staff at annie.yea@mail.house.gov This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or 5-2965. Thank you for your consideration of this request. Sincerely, Loretta Sanchez Anh "Joseph" Cao Member of Congress Member of Congress   more »