Vietnam is going to further restrict nudity content with a new rule that will ban models and winners of beauty contests from taking nude photos and publishing them online.
The rule, which will take effect on May 15, has been introduced by the culture ministry. It also goes as far as prohibiting "offensive clothes that expose sensitive body parts.”
Those violating the rule will face working ban and have their beauty titles stripped.
Vu Khanh, chairman of Vietnam Association of Photographers, said artists have been taking nude photos all the time.
“Nudity is not encouraged in Vietnam, but it has never been banned.”
The new rule will cause many difficulties to artists, Khanh said.
An official from the fine arts department at the culture ministry dismissed the rule as “a violation to personal freedom” which will affect both photographers and models.
“You should only ban pornographic photos,” the official said anonymously.
But Phan Dinh Tan, a ministry spokesman, said “it is very hard to tell artistic nudity from pornography.”