The government has suspended two newspapers for a month over critical reporting of the central bank's printing of new polymer bank notes, the Vietnam News Agency reported on Saturday.
It said the Ministry of Culture and Information suspended a newspaper run by the Supreme Court and another publication "for violating Press Law and not complying with the government's instruction".
Newspapers in Communist-run Vietnam are all state-controlled, but they compete with one another and increasingly run articles criticising government agencies and officials, particularly about corruption.
The media played a major role in exposing a multi-million dollar corruption scandal that led to the ouster of a cabinet minister in April, but rights groups say a law introduced in July placed further restrictions on media.
The official news agency said the two most popular newspapers Tuoi Tre (Youth) and Thanh Nien (Young People), were among several the ministry was considering "strict disciplinary measures" against for reporting on variations in size and mistakes on 10,000 dong (62 US cents) bank notes.
The two publications suspended were the court's twice-weekly Cong Ly (Justice) paper and Thoi Dai (Times) weekly of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations, an umbrella group that helps foreign organisations work in Vietnam. An official at the Cong Ly newspaper said, "We have just received the information but it is not clear when it would be effective."
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