Nguyen Danh Dung, 29, was arrested in the central province of Thanh Hoa over accusations of “abusing democratic rights in attempting to damage the interests of the state, organisations and citizens,” reported the VN Express news site.

Dung had reportedly used his blog and social media accounts to post 700 videos that were critical of government and Communist Party leaders.

Arrests of bloggers are common in Vietnam, where the government tolerates little dissent against the ruling single party communist state.

In November, prominent blogger Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, also known as Me Nam (Mother Mushroom), was arrested and accused of running “propaganda” against the state.

In the same month, blogger Ho Van Hai was arrested and accused of “spreading information and documents on the internet that are against the government of the Social Republic of Vietnam“.

According to the New York-based Human Rights Watch, Vietnam was holding at least 130 political prisoners at the end of last year.

The Southeast Asian nation maintains that only those who break the law are imprisoned and denies holding any political prisoners.

– with other agencies