Vietnam is preparing to strictly enforce a new cybersecurity law requiring global technology companies
to set up local offices and store data locally despite pleas from Facebook, Google and other firms, a
government document showed, Reuters reports. The legislation, which was passed in June and will
come into effect on Jan. 1, 2019, is the latest illustration of a growing trend towards using broad
definitions of national security and the public interest to justify data protection rules that amount to
digital protectionism, according to Nikkei Asian Review. Seventeen US lawmakers have urged the CEOs
of Facebook and Google to resist changes stipulated by a new cybersecurity law in Vietnam, which critics
say gives the Communist-ruled state more power to crackdown on dissent