Vietnam’s censorship lawfare enters the AI age
Vietnamese regime using foreign lawsuits, anti-state provisions and now AI-related criminal charges to stifle dissent
When Asia Times published the analysis “Vingroup’s legal bullying doesn’t work in Germany like in Vietnam“ in November 2025, we pointed out that major conglomerates cannot easily use their deep pockets to stifle the press in Europe.
Recent developments in December 2025 have reinforced this observation, while simultaneously exposing a more sophisticated pincer attack: the combination of international civil litigation and “lightning-fast” criminalization at home.
On December 22, 2025, the Berlin Regional Court II (Landgericht Berlin II) dealt a significant blow to the “lawfare” strategy of VinFast Germany GmbH. In judgment No. 27 O 329/25 eV, the judicial panel completely rejected VinFast’s request to impose civil fines against journalist Le Trung Khoa.
Rather than yielding to pressure from the conglomerate owned by billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong, the court not only dismissed the punitive requests but also ordered the plaintiff to bear all legal costs incurred.
This serves as clear evidence that in Germany, the boundary between protecting corporate personality and safeguarding press freedom is strictly defined. Efforts to utilize enforcement proceedings (Zwangsvollstreckung) to exert financial pressure on an exiled journalist failed to pass the “fairness filter” of the Western judiciary.
Weaponizing technology, criminalizing satire
However, while legal shields in Germany are proving effective, a different front has opened in Vietnam with staggering speed.
Just days before the Berlin ruling, the Supreme People’s Procuracy of Vietnam issued an indictment against Le Trung Khoa on charges of “making, storing and disseminating information against the State” under Article 117 of the penal code. Maximum penalties for convictions under the provision carry 20-year prison sentences.
The notable aspect of this indictment is the use of modern technological terms as legal weapons. Vietnamese authorities accuse Khoa of using artificial intelligence (AI) and deepfake technology to forge the voices and images of Communist Party and state leaders to defame the government’s reputation.
In reality, this is an attempt to criminalize political satire,a legitimate form of political expression that uses exaggeration and fiction to provide social critique rather than spreading “fake news”. This marks a new step in Vietnam’s campaign to control cyberspace, exploiting the fear of technology to dismantle the right to free speech from abroad.
Transnational repression
Khoa’s case is no longer a simple civil dispute. It has become a textbook example of transnational repression.
Internationally, the regime is utilizing law firms and filing costly civil lawsuits in a bid to exhaust the resources and reputation of journalists overseas. Domestically, it is leveraging the security apparatus and AI-related criminal charges to label political satire—a fundamental pillar of modern journalism—as “criminal” activity.
The latest ruling in Berlin is a vital victory for freedom of expression, but it also highlights the brutality of information warfare in the AI era.
While the German judiciary protects the journalist’s right to “personal perception” and satirical expression against large corporations, the Vietnamese legal system is tightening its grip with punitive anti-state criminal charges.
The lesson from this case is clear: Western legal shields are indispensable, but they may not be enough to protect those who dare to speak out against a power system that is increasingly learning to “weaponize” both international law and pioneering technology.
By Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh – Asia Times – December 24, 2025