WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration expressed concern Thursday about Vietnam’s “backsliding” on human rights and asserted that advancing individual freedoms is key to U.S. policy in Asia.

One example cited is Hanoi’s treatment of bloggers who have faced prosecution under national security laws. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Dan Baer told a congressional panel that Vietnam’s authoritarian government is rightly proud of expanding Internet use, but it has diminished the value by curbing free exchange of ideas. Baer described those national security laws as draconian.