Despite significant economic reform and a willingness to embrace social change, the party remains intolerant of criticism, as evidenced by leader Nguyen Phu Trong's increased crackdown on dissidents and activists since his re-election in 2016. According to a spokesperson from Amnesty International, at least 16 individuals have been arrested, detained, or convicted this year for posting anti-government content on Facebook. Additionally, there are currently 12 political prisoners serving time for similar charges. One such case is that of Pham Van Diep, a 54-year-old activist from Thanh Hoa, who received a nine-year sentence for spreading false information that defamed the Communist Party and Vietnamese government. According to the Vietnam News Agency, Diep also disseminated misleading information about government policies, causing confusion among Facebook users and residents. The posts were published from April 2014 to June 2019, and in 2016 he was imprisoned for 21 months in Laos for distributing anti-Vietnamese materials. This makes Diep the third person to be jailed this month, following a music teacher who was sentenced to 11 years in prison on November 15 for similar anti-government posts on Facebook, and a 38-year-old man who was jailed for broadcasting 33 live video sessions encouraging people to protest during national holidays. Just recently, a 54-year-old architect was also imprisoned for a year for sharing anti-government content on Facebook. Facebook is widely used in Vietnam for both e-commerce and expressing political dissent. It was reported in May that the amount of restricted content in Vietnam had increased by more than six times in the second half of 2018. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have called on Hanoi to stop cracking down on an independent publisher and criticized restrictions on freedom of speech that can result in arrests and imprisonment for those who express their opinions. The groups stated on Wednesday that this crackdown has heightened the atmosphere of fear in Vietnam.