October 11, 2019, by Vietnam Weekly
I discussed air pollution in the previous two newsletter editions, and it truly became front-page news this week in rather incredible fashion.
AirVisual, a company which monitors air quality around the world and runs an easy-to-use app, became the target of a concerted online effort by Vietnamese users to discredit their readings last weekend. By Monday, AirVisual had disappeared from both the Apple and Google app stores in Vietnam, while access to its Facebook page from within the country was blocked. The app was swamped with 1-star reviews (which I could read since my Apple account is based in the US), while the Facebook page was covered in critical comments from Vietnamese accounts (I had to use a VPN to see it). Their website was still accessible, and those who had already downloaded the app (like me) could still use it with no problem.
Unsurprisingly, once people started noticing the app's disappearance, many assumed it had been banned by the government since Hanoi's AQI readings on it have been so horrible recently. This was cleared up when AirVisual released a statement on their website, saying they had "received abusive and threatening messages posted on Facebook and on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Consequently, the AirVisual apps and Facebook page are currently no longer accessible in Vietnam." In an email, an AirVisual rep told me they prefer to work with countries to raise awareness on air pollution, but this isn't the first time their data has been attacked.
On the 6th, the day before everything went crazy, AirVisual posted a statement explaining Hanoi's ranking as the most polluted among the major cities covered by the platform, a ranking that many in Vietnam took exception with. The app is now back on the stores, and I can freely access their Facebook page as well. How this all started is the really wild part.
Reuters reports that the online campaign began after Vu Khac Ngoc, an "online chemistry teacher" with a large Facebook following, claimed (in Vietnamese) that AirVisual was artificially boosting the AQI readings in Hanoi and Saigon in order to scare people into buying air purifiers. AirVisual is run by IQAir, a Swiss company which sells high-end air purifier systems, but if you use the app there are no ads for products, and you are never directed towards buying anything. A couple of people have deployed this argument in my Twitter mentions as well, without providing any evidence. (Ngoc shared no evidence either - and anyway, if this was the case, wouldn't AirVisual manipulate the readings in every city it covers in order to boost sales?) This point also seems like a fat red herring, as the air quality has been visibly awful on numerous days.
According to Tuoi Tre, Ngoc also claimed the AQI readings would hurt tourism in Vietnam and - this part scares me the most - called on his followers to report news outlets who had published stories based on AirVisual's readings. Ngoc has since deleted that post and replaced it with an apology to AirVisual, but he did a lot of damage, and this is yet another example of the terrifying power of Facebook and how susceptible users are to prominent voices using the platform to spread baseless information.
Vietnamese media reported on all of this widely, and hasn't really pulled punches either. VnExpress, for example, ran an article on Tuesday titled 'Parents despair for their little ones as air quality plummets.'
Finally, in a completely predictable reaction to this incident, the Vietnam Environment Administration has announced that it will develop its own air quality app in order to provide "official" data. An official from the agency told Tuoi Tre that such information is already "easily accessible through the websites of Vietnamese agencies in charge of environmental monitoring," without naming any of these agencies. (I checked the websites of both the VEA and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and couldn't find AQI readings anywhere, so if you come across them please let me know.)
Perhaps this will be more successful than attempts to create a Vietnamese challenger to Facebook, since plenty of people quickly took up arms against AirVisual seemingly without a second thought, but officials here still don't seem to grasp the fact that "official" information doesn't carry the same weight as it did 20 years ago. (Here's one reason why: on Wednesday, the director of Saigon's Center of Environmental Monitoring held a press conference in which he shared 'official' AQI data from several weeks ago; info that could've been obtained elsewhere almost immediately and is meaningless well after the fact.)
It seems the AirVisual saga has likely reached its endpoint after a fascinating few days, but the issue of air pollution isn't going anywhere: Hanoi is currently sitting at 144 (unhealthy for sensitive groups), while it was over 150 (unhealthy) yesterday morning, as was Saigon.
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