Messaging platform too private for Vietnam’s authorities

Image credit: Holly Victoria Norval

Days after its public launch, the personal messaging app, Lief, is now in danger of being shut down by Vietnamese authorities.

The Lief app is meant to create a space for its users to interact with the 12 people they care about most. With the concept of privacy as its foundation, Lief encourages people to share meaningful things with each other privately.

Like many countries, Vietnam has been the center of many debates in concepts of privacy. At the same time, the authorities view this trend towards increased privacy with increasing suspicion, most often citing the need to curb negative rumors and prevent them from getting out of control.

The Lief app is meant to create a space for its users to interact with the 12 people they care about the most

Such fears, however, are unfounded in the case of Lief, which is not a social network. The app is built around the idea of sharing meaningful things with specific individuals, not broadcasting them to groups of people. What’s more, when something is shared between two users, nobody else can see this information, let alone comment on it or contact the users in question.

Nonetheless, the local authorities have raised issues over the app’s overly secretive nature, and a specter of investigation now looms over the platform, putting it in danger of being shuttered.

Backed by foreign investment, the app was slated to grow in Vietnam because the country is gearing up to become Asia’s next tech hub. With agreement reached on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and around 32,000 computer science major students graduating every year, the local startup scene is boiling with ideas of how to put Vietnam on the world map.

The tech momentum is definitely picking up. Just last year, Vietnam has been voted as one of the top 10 attractive locations for outsourcing software development in Asia Pacific at the Vietnam E-Business Forum.

Now, eager developers-to-be are waiting to see if the country’s technological potential will be endorsed or hampered by the authorities. Of main concerns are the regulations, and the process of applying for licenses and patents, as well as copyright law enforcement in Vietnam.

Recent developments in the local tech scene are not encouraging. Just a few months ago, instant messaging giant Viber has chosen to close its Vietnamese office. While this is officially attributed to other causes, the local tech community believes that the real reason was the company’s inability to reach agreements with local telecommunication companies and relevant authorities.

Another red flag was raised just a few weeks ago, when an official communiqué was issued, saying that Uber and GrabTaxi pose unfair competition to traditional taxi service providers.

Both apps already have considerable user bases in Vietnam, so an agreement may be in the works. However, innovative initiatives like Lief lack support from multinational corporations, which makes it very difficult for them to carve out a niche in Vietnam.