92 Dictating the Internet: against the State”, for using multiple Facebook accounts between October 2017 and February 2019 to make posts, share articles, and live-stream videos with content “distorting the policies of State and Party”.332 Both Le Van Sinh and Nguyen Van Cong Em had been arrested in February 2019. In September 2019, Nguyen Quoc Duc Vuong, a pro-democracy activist, was arrested and charged under article 117 of the 2015 Penal Code for allegedly “making, storing or disseminating information against the State”, following written posts and live-stream videos he had posted on his Facebook account.333 Cases of Nguyen Van Phuoc and Pham Xuan Hao (October 2019) In October 2019, Nguyen Van Phuoc, a pro-democracy activist, was sentenced by the People’s Court of An Giang province to five years’ imprisonment under article 117 of the 2015 Penal Code for allegedly “making, storing or disseminating information against the State”, following posts he had made he had on his Facebook account.334 He was reportedly convicted for his activities on Facebook between 2016 and 2018, including live-streaming videos where he had criticized the Vietnamese government and sharing articles, images and video clips deemed insulting to the government and the Communist Party of Vietnam.335 In October 2019, Pham Xuan Hao, an architect and lecturer at the Faculty of Technology, Can Tho University, was sentenced to one year in prison for allegedly “abusing democratic rights and freedoms to infringe upon state interests” under article 331 of the 2015 Criminal Code. In its judgment, the People’s Court of Ninh Kieu District, Can Tho City, 332 The 88 Project, ‘Second Activist Convicted in September for Facebook Postings: Nguyen Van Cong Em Sentenced to Five Years in Prison under Article 117’, 20 September 2019, Available at: https:// the88project.org/second-activist-convicted-in-september-for-facebook-postings-nguyen-van-congem-sentenced-to-five-years-in-prison-under-article-117/ 333 HRW, 7 October 2019. It was unclear which exact posts he had made on Facebook formed the basis of his charges. 334 Defend the Defenders, ‘Facebooker Nguyen Van Phuoc Convicted of “Conducting Antistate Propaganda” with 5-year Imprisonment’, 31 October 2019, Available at: http://www. vietnamhumanrightsdefenders.net/2019/10/31/facebooker-nguyen-van-phuoc-convicted-ofconducting-anti-state-propaganda-with-5-year-imprisonment/ 335 ICJ communications with partners.