Foreword by Stephen B. Young, Global Executive Director of the Caux Round Table for Moral Capitalism (CRT)
Freedom of the press is not a luxury but the foundation of moral governance and national dignity. As Karl Marx once warned in 1842, when the press is reduced to a mere trade, its “inner freedom” is destroyed — leading inevitably to censorship or the press’s annihilation altogether. Journalism, he insisted, is not a business but the realization of human freedom itself: “wherever there is a press, there must also be freedom of the press.”
The Caux Round Table (CRT) shares this conviction. Its first ethical principle for moral government is that discourse ethics should guide the application of public power. Legitimacy in governance depends on free and open communication among autonomous moral agents who make up the community. Independent journalism is therefore not an enemy of the state but its indispensable ally, ensuring transparency, accountability, and the possibility of just leadership.
Vietnamese voices from the past also affirmed this truth. Phan Đăng Lưu, a founder of the Communist Party’s “revolutionary press,” argued in 1938 that freedom of the press never harms those in power. Newspapers that survive in a free environment reflect authentic social aspirations, which any government wishing to govern responsibly must heed. Suppression of such voices is not a sign of strength but of fragility.
To this, the CRT adds the ethical duties of journalists themselves: to be competent, truthful, and diligent, never distorting facts or concealing adverse information. Journalism, properly practiced, is a noble profession serving the public good. Without these virtues, freedom degenerates into license, and the credibility of the press collapses.
From a Vietnamese philosophical lens, one might even liken a free press to a modern I Ching — a “Book of Changes” for society. Just as the ancient text helped generations discern patterns of transformation and navigate shifting circumstances, today an independent press provides predictive intelligence about social, cultural, and economic dynamics. To read a free press is to read the flows of human ambition, power, and possibility.
With these reflections in mind, readers may turn to the contemporary Vietnamese debate on this very subject. A recent article circulating widely on social media, available here: https://phongtraoduytan.com/chinh-tri/chinh-tri-viet-nam/3076/, illustrates the continuing importance of responsible journalism and the urgent relevance of press freedom in Vietnam today.
Thus, whether seen through Marx’s vision of freedom, the CRT’s ethical principles, or Vietnam’s own philosophical traditions, the conclusion is the same: a censored press is a contradiction in terms, “a perfumed abortion” in Marx’s searing phrase. A free press, by contrast, is the watchful eye of the people’s spirit, the living bond between citizen and state, and the nobility of a nation’s soul.
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Journalism under Tô Lâm: Building or Destroying?
By Phạm Hoàng Thuyên
Behind the recent persecutions of journalists — from the manhunt for martial artist and writer Đoàn Bảo Châu, to the imprisonment of prominent KOLs such as Phạm Đoan Trang and Trương Huy San (Huy Đức), to the planned closures of newsrooms under the guise of “streamlining staff” — lies a single, stark message from the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV): all independent voices must be caged within the Party’s institutional framework.
Yet this warning may have unintended consequences. Loyalty to the regime is no guarantee of safety. The only true source of dignity and legitimacy for journalism — as for every individual who takes up the pen — is to live and work for conscience, for the nation, and for the people. Only then will the homeland honor their service.
On June 21, 2025, during the celebration of “Vietnam Revolutionary Press Day,” General Secretary Tô Lâm declared: “The press must become a force for building confidence, inspiring the aspiration for national development.” An inspiring message at first glance. But reality forces us to ask: is Vietnam’s press today being built up — or steadily destroyed?
1. When Truth Is Hunted
The case of independent journalist, martial artist, and writer Đoàn Bảo Châu is telling. On August 14, 2025, Hanoi police issued a warrant for his arrest on charges of “propaganda against the state.” Forced into hiding, Châu released a public statement: he had done nothing wrong, merely written and spoken the thoughts ordinary citizens held but dared not say (Báo Tiếng Dân, Aug 21, 2025).
The evidence against him? Simply his participation in interviews and civil society forums — activities that should be the basic right of any journalist. Châu collaborated with leading global outlets such as AP, Reuters, the New York Times, and Forbes, and had 215,000 Facebook followers.
But in an environment where press freedoms are suffocated, it is precisely the voices embraced by the public that become targets of repression. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reports that Vietnam currently holds at least 27 independent journalists in prison, ranking the country near the very bottom of the 2025 World Press Freedom Index (Người Việt, 2025).
If this is what it means to “build confidence,” then that confidence has been reduced to silence — survival through submission.
2. When Mainstream Journalism Becomes a Megaphone
Even the official press — supposedly “the eyes and ears of the people” — has repeatedly shown it is never truly independent.
Take the case of Lê Hồng Sơn, former director of Ho Chi Minh City’s Department of Education and Training. For years, journalists were stonewalled and dismissed when questioning his office. At one point, the department even proposed disciplining a reporter for daring to investigate procurement scandals. Ultimately, Sơn himself was expelled from the Party for corruption in equipment bidding (Báo Tiếng Dân, Aug 22, 2025).
The haunting question remains: had the press been allowed to do its job back then, could society have avoided paying such a heavy, belated price?
3. Rumors of the Death of Tuổi Trẻ
It is not only individuals who are under siege. Entire institutions face erasure. Reports that Tuổi Trẻ — Vietnam’s most popular daily with more than half a million copies in circulation — may be dissolved and merged into the struggling Sài Gòn Giải Phóng have unsettled the public (Sài Gòn Giải Phóng, 2025).
Tuổi Trẻ is more than a newspaper. It is an heir to the tradition of student and youth activism in Saigon, a financially self-sustaining publication with a broad readership. To strip it of its identity and fold it into a Party organ with little traction is widely seen as the suffocation of a brand once synonymous with hope and trust.
Is this the dawn of a “new era” for Vietnamese journalism, or merely a historic regression — a future with only one voice left, that of the Party committee?
4. A Comprehensive Campaign to Seal All Mouths
Since 2016, more than 70 journalists have been imprisoned, including the high-profile case of Phạm Đoan Trang, sentenced to nine years (BBC Vietnamese, 2022). Since Tô Lâm assumed the post of General Secretary in August 2024, repression has only deepened.
Trương Huy San (Huy Đức) — once lauded for fearless reporting on high-level corruption — was sentenced to 30 months in prison in early 2025 (VOA Tiếng Việt, 2025a). Nor is the crackdown limited to “dissident” voices. Even moderate insiders — retired officials, establishment scholars, cautious commentators — have had accounts frozen, broadcasts cut, and platforms denied.
This is not selective censorship. It is a systematic campaign to extinguish dissent at every level.
Meanwhile, the Party has pushed forward with its policy of “one newspaper per ministry, province, or agency,” under the pretext of reducing costs and streamlining staff. If cost-saving were the true motive, a far simpler solution would be to let newspapers operate independently, self-financed, free from state payrolls. But that option is never permitted.
5. Journalism as a Corrective Mechanism
In every society, journalism is not only a mirror of reality but a corrective mechanism for government. Policies inevitably lag behind social needs. The press is the warning system, the voice of criticism, the channel for timely adjustment.
Journalistic truth may be uncomfortable — but discomfort is essential for progress. History shows that a society without a free press is like a body without an immune system: it may appear stable on the surface, but disease festers within.
6. Building or Destroying?
Under Tô Lâm, the authority of the General Secretary has been consolidated. Yet the paradox remains: the tighter the Party cages journalists and KOLs within its “institutional framework,” the faster public trust erodes.
If Tuổi Trẻ is forced to vanish, if dozens of journalists are imprisoned or hunted down, these are not isolated events. Together they paint a bleak picture: journalism is being transformed from a bridge of the people into the monopolized tool of the Party.
From newsroom closures to the “streamlining” drive, the regime’s implicit message to society may well backfire: loyalty to the Party offers no protection.
The only safeguard for the dignity and legitimacy of journalism — as for every journalist — is to live and work for conscience, for the nation, and for the people. Only then will history record their service with honor (VOA Tiếng Việt, 2025b).