Nguyễn Ngọc Như Quỳnh also known by her blogging pseudonym, Mẹ Nấm (Mother Mushroom)co-founded the independent Vietnamese Bloggers Network in December 2013.
She was arrested on 10 October 2016 and held incommunicado until 20 June 2017. On 29 June 2017, she was handed a ten-year prison sentence, having been convicted of “conducting propaganda against the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” under Article 88 of Viet Nam’s Penal Code.
She has advocated for human rights and justice for more than 10 years.
