August 4, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Vietnamese authorities to end their harassment of journalist Doan Bao Chau after a Hanoi court sentenced him in absentia to seven years in prison over social media posts critical of the government.
On August 3, the Hanoi People’s Court convicted Chau under Article 117 of Vietnam’s Penal Code, which criminalizes “producing, possessing, distributing, or disseminating information deemed to oppose the state,” according to news reports. The court also ordered Chau to serve five years of probation following completion of his sentence.
Chau, who is in exile in Canada and reports via his personal Facebook page, which has 225,000 followers, rejected the conviction as baseless in text messages with CPJ after the ruling, and in a statement issued as the hearing opened.
“Journalist Doan Bao Chau’s conviction epitomizes Vietnam’s relentless use of politically motivated prosecutions to silence independent journalists,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Vietnamese authorities should end their harassment of Chau and all independent journalists, stop using Article 117 to criminalize news reporting, and ensure that members of the press can report freely without fear of arrest or imprisonment.”
A panel of judges ruled that Chau violated Article 117 by appearing on the BBC Vietnamese YouTube channel and posting videos to his personal Facebook account that allegedly distorted and defamed the government, spread fabricated information and caused public panic. State prosecutors relied on six video clips that authorities said contained “psychological warfare rhetoric” and fabricated rumors intended to oppose the state.
Chau, who previously worked as a freelance photographer for the Associated Press and Agence France-Presse and as a reporter for The New York Times, told CPJ in a text message that he was subjected to a travel ban and frequent police summons over his reporting beginning in June 2024, prompting him to go into hiding. On July 3, 2025, more than 20 officers raided and searched his home in the capital, Hanoi, and charged him under Article 117. Authorities issued a warrant for his arrest on August 14, 2025.
Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security, which manages the nation’s prisons and authorizes police to make political arrests, did not immediately respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment.
Vietnam is among the world’s worst jailers of journalists, with at least 16 reporters currently imprisoned, according to CPJ’s latest data.