The government of Vietnam reportedly shut down Facebook over the weekend as part of an ongoing crackdown on social media.

Reports claim that Facebook-owned Instagram was also affected by the crackdown.

The decision to block Facebook came as protesters tried to rally for the third successive Sunday to protest over an environmental disaster claimed to have been caused by toxic discharge from Taiwanese steel company Formosa Plastic.

Formosa has denied any wrongdoing in the matter.

In April, large numbers of dead fish washed up across some 200 km of the coast of Vietnam’s four central provinces; Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue.

Vietnamese authorities are facing growing anger over the disaster and have yet to announce the official cause of the deaths, which has affected the livelihoods of tens of thousands of families.

Though security forces have allegedly been preventing protesters from gathering in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, many citizens have been using social media to exchange information and organise rallies.

According to Can-India News, Israeli proxy service Hola experienced a massive surge of downloads of the popular app and browser extension in Vietnam in the hours following the Facebook blockade.

“As the Internet becomes the mainstream method of exchanging information between people, more and more governments, service providers and corporations are closing down on the Internet citizens’ freedom of information. Hola’s P2P technology removes these barriers and makes the Web worldwide again,” Can-India News cited a spokesperson from Hola as saying.

It’s unclear if the ban, which went to effect on Sunday, is ongoing or has been lifted.

– TiVi Tuan-san