These cases have painted a bleak picture of Internet freedom in Vietnam, a country that blocks Web sites and surveils netizens. The Internet came to Vietnam in the nineteen-nineties, and use of it has grown at a rapid pace ever since. According to figures from 2013, more than one in four Vietnamese said that they had used the Internet in the past week. The Vietnamese government, in response, has tried to rein in dissent by enacting laws that restrict online content, but authorities cannot entirely control the spread of information.